Sirimavo Bandaranaike was born on 17 April 1916, as Sirima Ratwatte to a prominent Radala family, who were descended from Ratwatte Dissawa, Dissawa of Matale, a signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandyan Convention of 1815. She was the eldest of six, with four brothers and one sister.
Bandaranaike was educated at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo, but was a practising Buddhist.
Until 1959, Sirimavo Bandaranaike played no active part in politics, but after her husband's death she agreed to run for his parliamentary seat in a by-election. That election was never held because of the dissolution of Parliament, and in the next election, held in March 1960, she did not run for Parliament. However, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, for which she had vigorously campaigned, won an overwhelming victory, owing largely to its support of equal rights for women. She became the party's president in 1960 and was asked to form a government. As prime minister Mrs. Bandaranaike nationalized the property of foreign oil companies, thereby losing U.S. economic aid, and nationalized religious schools. When her government lost control of parliament in 1965, she became a leader of the opposition. She led a three-party coalition to victory in the elections of 1970 and again became prime minister. Her government ordered the U.S. Peace Corps out of Ceylon, recognized the governments of North Vietnam and North Korea, and announced that all foreign-owned banks and Ceylon's foreign trade would be nationalized. The slowness of nationalization and the spread of unemployment, however, led extreme leftists to attempt a revolution in 1971. Mrs. Bandaranaike's government successfully put down the insurrection. On May 22, 1972, Ceylon adopted a new constitution, severed ties with the British Crown but remained within the Commonwealth, and became the independent socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Mrs. Bandaranaike was sworn in as the first premier.
In elections in 1977, Mrs. Bandaranaike's party coalition was beaten decisively by conservatives. She resigned as premier, but kept her parliamentary seat.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first woman prime minister in the world when she was chosen to head the Sri Lankan Freedom Party government in 1960, following the assassination of her husband.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike was married to Bandaranaike, they had two daughters and a son.
