Kumaratunga, Chandrika Bandaranaike (1945–)
Kumaratunga, Chandrika Bandaranaike (1945–)
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Name variations: Chandra Bandaranaike. Born June 29, 1945, in Colombo, Sri Lanka; dau. of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (founder of Sri Lanka Freedom Party and prime minister of Sri Lanka from 1956 until his assassination, Sept 26, 1959) and Sirimavo Bandaranaike (b. 1916, 1st elected woman prime minister in the world); studied for LLB; awarded PhD in development economics and degree in political science at University of Paris; m. Vijaya Kumaratunga (leading opposition figure and film idol), Feb 20, 1978 (assassinated Feb 16, 1988); children: daughter, Yasodara Kumaratunga; son, Vimukti Kumaratunga.
Both father and husband assassinated; after serving as president of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP), emerged as a leader of People's Alliance (early 1990s); was elected Sri Lanka's prime minister (Aug 1994) and a few months later (Nov), became the 1st female president of Sri Lanka, having campaigned with a promise to stop the ethnic civil war between the Sinhalese, who are a majority of the population, and the Tamils (minority); though wounded in an explosion during a suicide bombing attack at a campaign rally, won a 2nd term as president (1999–2005), but fighting continued in a war that has claimed thousands of lives.
See also Women in World History.