麻豆APP

Image by People’s Pictorial from

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, in full Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, also called Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike was born in 1916, in Ratnapura, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The stateswoman is the eldest child of Mr. Barnes Ratwatte, the Disawe of Sabaragamuwa and Mrs. Mahawalathenna Kumarihamy, a traditional Kandyan elitist family that enjoyed a profound social command in the area.

She had four brothers and two sisters and was educated at St. Bridget’s Convent in Colombo. In 1940, Sirimavo Bandaranaike married S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, was a prominent minister under the Donoughmore Constitution and the scion of a family that was at the pinnacle of social hierarchy throughout the British colonial rule.

Born into a wealthy family, she married the politician S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1940 began to interest herself in social welfare. She served as prime minister three times and was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She was the first female to be elected head of government in the world. Here’s a sneak peek at the top 10 intriguing facts about Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

1.  Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the World’s First Female Prime Minister

Image by Centralna Agencja Fotograficzna from

She was the world’s first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (then the Dominion of Ceylon) in 1960. After the tragic death of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1959 Sirimavo Bandaranaike reluctantly entered into active politics by successfully leading the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the 1960 July General Elections.

After the elections, Sirimavo Bandaranaike made history by becoming the first female Prime Minister in the World. Her active political life spanned over 50 years, during this period she was Prime Minister three times (1960-65, 1970-77 and 1994-2000), the leader of Opposition two times (1965-70, 1989-1994) and the leader of the SLFP.

2. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s Husband was the first Sri Lankan National Leader to be Assassinated

During the 1940 s to the 1960s as the life-partner of a Minister, the leader of a new party, the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister, she played an important role in achieving the political ideals and goals of her husband.

W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), was assassinated by the Buddhist priest in 1959, while meeting the public at his private residence in Colombo. Shot in the chest, abdomen and hand, Bandaranaike died while undergoing treatment. The assassination of SWRD Bandaranaike in 1959 created a leadership vacuum. At this crucial political juncture Sirimavo Bandaranaike came forward to take over the reins to give leadership to the unfinished.

He was the first Sri Lankan national leader to be assassinated, which led to his widow Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike becoming the world’s first female Prime Minister.

3.  Her Father was a Colonial-era Leader

Barnes Ratwatte was a Ceylonese colonial-era legislator and a headman. He was a member of the State Council and the Senate of Ceylon. The father was appointed to the posts of Rate Mahatmaya of Balangoda and Dissawa by the British. He was the father of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first female Prime Minister in the world.

He was a member of the State Council and the Senate of Ceylon. They had six children including four sons Barnes Ratwatte II, Doctor Seevali Ratwatte, Doctor Mackie Ratwatte and Clifford Ratwatte, former Member of Parliament for Balangoda and Chairman of the State Plantations and Sri Lanka Tea Board.

4. Her Daughter became the first Sri Lankan female President

Image by Vikalpa Sri Lanka from

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is a member of a prominent Sri Lankan political family, who was the first woman to serve as the country’s president (1994–2005).

Chandrika Bandaranaike was the daughter of two former prime ministers. Her father was S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the founder of the socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party and prime minister from 1956 until his assassination in 1959.

Kumaratunga’s last six-year term ended that year in 2005. She argued that since the 1999 election had been held one year early, she should be allowed to serve that leftover year stating that she had a secret swearing-in for her second term a year after her formal swearing-in.

5. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was Banned from Politics but Bounced Back

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician. In 1960 she became the world’s first woman prime minister. She served as prime minister on three separate occasions. Parliament expelled her, accusing her of misusing power, and banned her from office for seven years.

In 1980 the Sri Lanka parliament took away Bandaranaike’s political rights. In 1986 the president pardoned her and restored those rights to her. Bandaranaike won a seat in parliament in 1989.

In 1994, her daughter, Kumaratunga, was elected president and appointed her mother as prime minister, by then a largely ceremonial post.

6. She died Minutes after Voting

Image courtesy Prime Ministers Office from Wikimedia

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the matriarch of Sri Lankan politics. She at died at 84 years old on October 10, 2000 of a heart attack minutes after voting in the country’s parliamentary elections. Mrs. Bandaranaike voted in a wheelchair and suffered a heart attack in her car on her way home. The day also marked the widow’s 60th wedding anniversary.

“I think the entire nation has lost its mother,” said Alavi Mowlana, a government minister for local affairs. “She had been sick so long, but it is amazing that she was able to cast her vote before she died,” said T.K.H. Peiris, a polling agent for the People’s Alliance party headed by Mrs. Bandaranaike’s daughter

Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans lit oil lamps, prayed in Buddhist temples and put up white flags in their homes to mourn the death of the former leader known affectionately as Mrs. B.

7.  Sirimavo Bandaranaike made Sinhalese the official Language

Image by Unknown Source from

The Sinhala Only Bill, formally known as The Official Language Act 1956 passed by the government of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) made Sinhalese the official language of the country. Sirimavo Bandaranaike then PM of Sri Lanka realized her campaign promise by passing the Bill, an agenda which won her 1956 general elections.

in 1956, Bandaranaike won by a landslide and formed a leftwing coalition. The key factor in his victory was the “Sinhala only” policy – the promise to replace English with Sinhala as the island’s sole official language, and a watershed policy in Ceylonese history. It was aimed at the dominance of the English-speaking elite, but, in fact, sowed the seeds of bitter conflicts with the Tamils

Sinhalese language, also spelt Singhalese or Cingalese, also called Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language, one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka. It was brought there by colonists from northern India about the 5th century bc.

8. Sirimavo Bandaranaike Wedding of the Year

Her marriage, in 1940, to Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, then a brilliant, young, Oxford- educated colonial government minister, was dubbed “the wedding of the century”. Both were from the top goyigama caste of landowners, and their horoscopes were found to match perfectly. And if he did not know the rural Sinhalese as she did, Bandaranaike instinctively sensed their needs and aspirations.

The wedding was held with much pageantry, in keeping with their family traditions. Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, who was serving at the time as Minister of Health and Local Government, had first visited her home on an official visit to Balangoda. This had been their first interaction, leading upto their nuptials on 03 October 1940. Shortly after marriage, the young couple had moved into ‘Wendtworth’, their first home together, before moving thereafter to ‘Tintagel’, on Rosmead Place in Colombo 07.

9.   Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a Socialist

Image by Masako Kawasaki from

In the years following her husband’s death, she forged ahead with the socialist reform programme her husband had initiated – and, indeed, went further. The island was thrust full-tilt into the emerging non-aligned movement. Foreign oil companies were nationalised, and all government business was transferred to the state-owned Bank of Ceylon and the new People’s Bank. This brought an end to American aid and  Soviet aid was sought for industrialisation projects. Education was reformed in favour of the Buddhist Sinhalese.

But Mrs Bandaranaike paid a high price. At the end of 1964, under pressure from right-wing Buddhist leaders, some SLFP MPs crossed the floor, and the government collapsed.

10. Mrs. Bandaranaike was the first Woman Leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka

Image by Damitha K Tenakoon from

In the 1965 elections, Bandaranaike won a seat in the House of Representatives from the Attanagalla Electoral District. With her party gaining 41 seats, she became the Leader of the Opposition, the first woman ever to hold the post. 

Soon after, Bandaranaike’s position as a member of parliament was challenged, when allegations were made that she had accepted a bribe, in the form of a car, while in office. A committee was appointed to investigate and she was later cleared of the charge.

During her five-year term in the opposition, she maintained her alliance with leftist parties. Of the seven by-elections held between November 1966 and April 1967, six were won by the opposition under Bandaranaike’s leadership.