17 April 1916 – Birth of Sirimavo Ratwatte

Born to Barnes Ratwatte Dissawa of Kandy and Rosalind Mahawelatenne Kumarihamy of Mahawelatenne Walauwa, Sirimavo was the eldest of six children, who included Barnes, Patricia, Macky, Sivali and Clifford. Her father, the Rate Mahaththaya, was…

03 October 1940- Marriage with S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike

The marriage of the eldest daughter of the Mahawelatenna Walauwa to the son of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, the Maha Mudaliyar of Horagolla, was heldwith much pageantry, in keeping with their family traditions. Solomon West…

1941 – Joined the Lanka Mahila Samithi

The Lanka Mahila Samithi (LMS) had been founded by Dr Mary Rutnam in 1930, as a women’s movement geared towards the upliftment of rural conditions and improvement of the socio-economic conditions of villagers in remote…

27 July 1943 – Birth of Sunethra Dias Bandaranaike

Born at ‘Wendtworth’ their first Colombo residence, Sunethra Dias Bandaranaike, as the eldest child of two Prime Ministers,leads a life dedicated to the arts and philanthropy. Following her obtaining an Honours Degree in Philosophy, Politics…

29 June 1945 – Birth of Chandrika Dias Bandaranaike

The second child of the Bandaranaike family was also born at ‘Wendtworth’. Having graduated from Sorbonne University in Paris with a degree in Political Science, she returned to Sri Lanka to take up the role…

15 February 1949 – Birth of Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike

At the time of Mrs Bandaranaike giving birth to a son, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was the then Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, was at the foot of the Sri Maha Bodhiya…

26 September 1959 – Assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike

On 26th September 1959 Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained the previous day, when he was shot by an assassin at close range at his home, ‘Tintagel’. Plunging the…

21 July 1960 – Election of the world’s first woman Prime Minister

Ascending to the premiership of Ceylon, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman to ever hold the position of Prime Minister. The second General Election of 1960had given the Sri Lanka Freedom Party a comfortable victory…

05 August 1960 – Sworn in as a Senator

Having assumed the office of Prime Minister, it was necessary for Sirimavo Bandaranaike to occupy a seat of Parliament or the Senate, which was the Upper House of Parliament, within a space of three months.…

17 March 1961 – First Official Visit –11thCommonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference

Marking her presence on the world stage, Mrs Bandaranaike undertook her first official visit to London, to attend the 11thCommonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference. Whilst being the first Commonwealth Conference at which a woman Head of…

01 – 06 September 1961 – First Non Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade

Attending the first Non Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Mrs Bandaranaike became a founding member of the Movement along with great world leaders like Nehru, Tito, Sukarno, Nasser and Nkrumah. Speaking in Belgrade, Mrs…

21 November 1961 – Vipassana Meditation Centre

In November 1961, Mrs Bandaranaike, the Founder President of the Vipassana Meditation Centre, inaugurated the new building of the organisation. Since 1955, this centre had been devoted to meditation. The brainchild of Prime Minister S.…

12 December 1961 –Ceylon leads the stand against the US Rubber policy

With the United States of America introducing the Disposals Policy whereby rubber prices dropped in the world market owing to the release of natural rubber from the US stockpiles, Mrs Bandaranaike asserted the position of…

27 January 1962 – Failedcoup d’état

An attempted coup d’état planned for the night of 27 January 1962 was quelled owing to the timely information received and the immediate action taken to arrest those involved in planning it. Mrs Bandaranaike, aided…

02 March 1962 – Appointment of William Gopallawa as Governor-General

Mrs Bandaranaike, with the consent of Queen Elizabeth II, oversaw the appointment of William Gopallawa as Governor-General in succession to Sir Oliver Goonatilleke. He took the oath of office at 8.57am on 02 March 1962…

30 April 1962 – Opposition to American nuclear testing

Given the destruction that had been wrought in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the devastating effects that were felt for decades, Ceylon was quick to react to the American testing of a nuclear device. Writing to…

23 October 1962 – Visit of Indian Prime Minister Nehru

Mrs Bandaranaike invited Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to visit Ceylon. The visit was significant as it saw the inauguration of the Bandaranaike Ayurveda Research Centre in Nawinna and also included an address to Parliament,…

10 December 1962 – Six-nation Colombo Conference convened

Pursuant to growing tension between India and China and the standoff that was being experienced, Mrs. Bandaranaike convened what came to be known as the Colombo Conference, bringing together the leaders ofBurma, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana…

08 January 1963 – To China to seek concurrence for Colombo proposals

Mrs Bandaranaike visited China to apprise the Chinese Government on the outcome of the deliberations in Colombo. She secured a positive response and China expressed its gratitude to Mrs Bandaranaike for her initiative and efforts…

12 January 1963 – To India to seek concurrence for Colombo proposals

Visiting India, Mrs Bandaranaike sought the concurrence of Prime Minister Nehru for the proposals that had been formulated in Colombo with regard to the tension between India and China. Speaking in New Delhi, Mrs Bandaranaike…

සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක

சிறிமாவோ பண்டாரநாயக்க

SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE