First Lady of Sri Lanka

The First Lady of Sri Lanka is honorary title bestowed upon the wife of the President of Sri Lanka.^[1]

Origins

The office of the President of Sri Lanka was created in 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic. William Gopallawa who was the Governor-General of Ceylon at the time became the country's inaugural President. His wife, Seelawathie Gopallawa, became the first wife of a President of Sri Lanka. When J. R. Jayewardene became the next president, his wife became known as Lady Elina Jayewardene during and after his presidency.^[2] Thereafter during the presidency of Ranasinghe Premadasa, his wife Madam Hema Premadasa as she was referred to took on a very viable role and became a public figure unlike before.^[3]

Wimalawathi Kumarihami, the wife of the president D. B. Wijethunge was mentioned as the first lady that the public has never seen. The position of first lady was vacant from 1994 to 2005 during the time that Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga was president as her husband, film star Vijaya Kumaratunga, was killed in 1987 and she was the first female President of Sri Lanka. Shiranthi Rajapaksa became a very viable role as the first lady to become a public figure during her husband's presidency.

Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari Sirisena is the wife of the seventh and current President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena.

List

#	Image	First Lady	Birth	Marriage	President (Husband, unless noted)	Tenure began	Age at tenure start	Tenure ended	Length of retirement	Death	Lifespan
1		Seelawathie Gopallawa (née Rambukwella)		8 March 1928	William Gopallawa	1972		1978
2		Elina Jayewardene (née Rupasinghe)	(1913-12-15)15 December 1913	28 February 1935	J. R. Jayewardene	1978	7009202409280000000♠64 years, 51 days	1989	6,893 days	17 November 2007(2007-11-17)	34,305 days (7009296397360000000♠93 years, 337 days)
3		Hema Premadasa (née Wickrematunge)			Ranasinghe Premadasa	1989		1993
4		Wimalawathi Kumarihami			Dingiri Banda Wijetunga	1993		1994
Vacant 1994 to 2005
5		Shiranthi Rajapaksa (née Wickramasinghe)		1983	Mahinda Rajapaksa	2005		2015
6		Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari			Maithripala Sirisena	2015		Incumbent

References

First Ladies of Sri Lanka
Seelawathie Gopallawa Elina Jayewardene Hema Premadasa Wimalawathi Kumarihami Shiranthi Rajapaksa Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari