   sirimavo ratwatte dias bandaranaike (,; 17 april 1916 â 10 october 2000) was a sri lankan politician and the modern world's first female head of government. she served as prime minister of ceylon and sri lanka three times, 1960â65, 1970â77 and 1994â2000, and was a long-time leader of the sri lanka freedom party. bandaranaike was the widow of a previous sri lankan prime minister, solomon bandaranaike, and the mother of sri lanka's fourth executive president, chandrika kumaratunga, as well as anura bandaranaike, former speaker and cabinet minister.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
1916_births 2000_deaths Alumni_of_St_Bridget\'s_Convent,_Colombo Bandaranaike_family BandaranaikeaRatwatte_family Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Defence_ministers_of_Sri_Lanka Democratic_socialists Female_heads_of_government Foreign_ministers_of_Sri_Lanka Leaders_of_the_Opposition_(Sri_Lanka) Members_of_the_10th_Parliament_of_Sri_Lanka Members_of_the_6th_Parliament_of_Ceylon Members_of_the_7th_Parliament_of_Ceylon Members_of_the_8th_Parliament_of_Sri_Lanka Members_of_the_9th_Parliament_of_Sri_Lanka Members_of_the_Senate_of_Ceylon People_of_British_Ceylon Prime_Ministers_of_Sri_Lanka Ratwatte_family Sinhalese_people Sinhalese_politicians Sri_Lanka_Freedom_Party_politicians Sri_Lankan_Theravada_Buddhists Sri_Lankan_women_in_politics