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First Lady of Sri Lanka

First Lady of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ආර්යා Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi Aryā; Tamil: இலங்கை முதல் பெண்மணி Ilankai Mutal Peṇmaṇi) refers to the wife of the President of Sri Lanka. To date, there have been eight women who have served in the role. The current First Lady of Sri Lanka is Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, wife of President Ranil Wickremasinghe, who has held the position since 20 July 2022.^[1][2] There have been no first gentlemen of Sri Lanka to date, since former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the country's only female head of state, was a widow while in office.

In recent years the holders of the title have been formally or informally referred to by the title First LadyorFirst Lady of Sri Lanka, though there are no provisions for such in the constitution.^[3]

Origins[edit]

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 was known as Lady Elina Jayewardene during and after his presidency.^[4] During the presidency of Ranasinghe Premadasa, his wife Hema Premadasa took on a very viable role and became a public figure unlike before.^[5]

Chandrika Kumaratunga who was president from 1994 to 2005 was a widow as her husband, film star Vijaya Kumaratunga, was assassinated in 1987. When Mahinda Rajapaksa became president, his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa took a higher profile role, using the title of first lady and becoming a public figure during her husband's presidency, with her own naval aide and staff funded by the Presidential Secretariat.

List[edit]

#	Image	First Lady	Birth	Marriage	President (Husband, unless noted)	Tenure began	Age at tenure start	Tenure ended	Length of retirement	Death	Lifespan	Notes
1		Seelawathie Gopallawa (née Rambukwella)		8 March 1928	William Gopallawa	1972		1977†	0 days	(1977-10-04)4 October 1977
–	Position vacant					Position fell vacant upon the death of Seelawathie Gopallawa.
2		Elina Jayewardene (née Rupasinghe)	(1913-12-15)15 December 1913	28 February 1935	J. R. Jayewardene	1978	64 years, 51 days	1989	18 years, 319 days	(2007-11-17)17 November 2007	93 years, 337 days
3		Hema Premadasa (née Wickrematunge)	(1934-10-27)27 October 1934	23 June 1964	Ranasinghe Premadasa	1989	54 years, 67 days	1993	31 years, 60 days	Living	89 years, 247 days
4		Wimalawathi Kumarihami			Dingiri Banda Wijetunga	1993		1994
–	Position vacant				Chandrika Kumaratunga	Kumaratunga's husband, Vijaya Kumaratunga, was assassinated in 1988 before she became president.
5		Shiranthi Rajapaksa (née Wickramasinghe)	(1953-01-23)23 January 1953	1983	Mahinda Rajapaksa	2005	52 years, 300 days	2015	9 years, 173 days	Living	71 years, 159 days
6		Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari		1970s	Maithripala Sirisena	2015		2019	4 years, 225 days	Living
7		Ioma Rajapaksa			Gotabaya Rajapaksa	2019		2022	717 days	Living
8		Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe (née Wickremasinghe)	(1964-08-11)11 August 1964	1994	Ranil Wickremasinghe	2022	57 years, 343 days	Incumbent		Living	59 years, 324 days

See also[edit]

• President of Sri Lanka

References[edit]

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