Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The Mahawalatenne family, including Mahawalatenne Rate Mahattaya (back row right) and Agnes Mahawalatenne (née Ellawala, front row right), the maternal grandparents of Sirima Ratwatte.
Horagolla Walawwa, the Bandaranaike ancestral manor
The Old Parliament Building in Colombo, where the House of Representatives met beginning in 1947
Bandaranaike with Soviet Union Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin, Senior Advisor (Foreign Affairs) to the Prime Minister Tissa Wijeyeratne and Anura Bandaranaike
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, who is the constitutional chief executive. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable to parliament for their policies and actions.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
The first Prime Minister of Ceylon with his Cabinet members
