William Gopallawa
1st President of Sri Lanka
In office May 22, 1972 – February 4, 1978
Succeeded by	Junius Richard Jayewardene
4th Governor-General of Ceylon
In office March 2, 1962 – May 22, 1972
Preceded by	Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
Succeeded by	Post abolished
5th Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office August 19, 1976 – February 4, 1978
Preceded by	Houari Boumédienne
Succeeded by	Junius Richard Jayawardene
Born	September 17, 1897(1897-09-17) Matale,Ceylon
Died	January 31, 1981 (aged 83) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Spouse(s)	Seelawathie Rambukwella Gopallawa
Religion	Buddhist

William Gopallawa, MBE (September 17, 1897 - January 31, 1981) was the last Governor General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and became the first (non-executive) President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared it self a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka. Until 1972, Ceylon was an Commonwealth realm with the Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and Queen of Ceylon. He was well known as an austere, nonpartisan and statesmanlike figure who commanded the respect of all political parties.

He represented an era where politics was conducted with a dignified aura and he had a reputation as being a man of integrity and humility. He served as Governor General during the tenure of different governments headed by the SLFP led regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike and the UNP led regime of Dudley Senanayake. He upheld the law and the constitution to the letter and won respect and admiration of all political parties.

[edit] Early life

William Gopallawa was born on September 17, 1897 at the Dullewe Maha Walauwa, Dullewe in the Matale District of Ceylon. He is related to Dullewe Dissava, a signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandiyan Convention of 1815, by his mother Tikiri Kumarihamy Dullewe. William lost his father, Tikiri Banda Gopallawa when he was three years old.

He received his primary education at the Dullewe village school and at St. John's College, Kandy. He continued his secondary education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy and later moved to St.Anthony’s College, Kandy. After having sat the Cambridge Senior Certificate Examination in 1917 he returned to his home town Matale and joined as the tutorial staff of Buddhist English School, Matale (now Vijaya College) and was also instrumental in setting up a library and a scout troop for the benefit of the students there. In 1920 William joined the Ceylon Law College, Colombo and was enrolled as a Proctor and Notary Public in 1924. He was in active practice in Matale, Dumbara and Kandy from 1924 until he took up duties as Municipal Commissioner, Kandy in 1939.

[edit] Political life

In 1926 Gopallawa contested and won in the Matale Urban Council Elections and served continuously in the council for a period of 13 years from 1926 - 1939. He served as the chairman of the Matale Urban Council for 5 years, at his office he was the youngest Urban Council Chairman in Ceylon at that time. In 1936 Gopallawa unsuccessfully contested for the Matale seat at the State Council Elections in 1936. In 1939 the Kandy Municipal Council was established and Gopallawa was appointed as the first Municipal Commissioner of Kandy. He served in that capacity through out World War II and acquitted himself for efficiency during the great floods in 1950. In 1951 he was appointment as Municipal Commissioner of Colombo and served until 1957 when he stepped down from the post.

[edit] Diplomatic role

On June 18, 1958 when S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's government started diplomatic relations with People's Republic of China Gopallawa was posted as the Ambassador. September 7, 1961 when is he was serving in China he was called back and posted as the Ambassador to the United States, he served there until 1962.

[edit] Governor-General of Ceylon & President of Sri Lanka

In 1962, he was called back to Ceylon, after his niece, the then prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike nominated Gopallawa as Governor-General of Ceylon following the Sir Oliver Goonetilleke's implication in the attempted military coup earlier that year. He was the second Ceylonese Governor General and the first Buddhist hold the post as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II who was the Head of State. Gopallawa served in this capacity until 1972.

His constitutional decision to invite the UNP which won the majority of Parliamentary seats in the 1965 general election, (but not enough for an absolute majority) is heralded as a landmark moment where he respected the nation's constitution and its people's wishes more than the wishes of the defeated SLFP government (that appointed him as GG) which wanted him to delay inviting the winning party to form the government. It averted a major crisis of leadership.

When Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka in March 2, 1972, Gopallawa became the first President. He stepped down from office in February 1978 when then Prime Minister Junius Richard Jayewardene became President following constitutional changes that effected the creation of an executive Presidency.

[edit] Faith

While he was a devout Buddhist, he respected all faiths and never failed to attend the annual Vel Hindu ceremony and never failed to host Christmas carols and also attended various Muslim ceremonies in his role as titual head of state; he was acutely cognizant of his role as a uniter of all Sri Lankans during his tenure. He was the first to establish a spartan Buddhist Shrine room at the Queen's House.

[edit] Family

Gopallawa married Seelawathie Rambukwella Gopallawa;they had 5 children. He was survived by 4 children out of 5. One died early on while he was still working in Matale. His eldest daughter Chandrika Iranganie married Dr. Mackie Ratwatte, the private secretary and a brother of Sirimavo Bandaranaike. His oldest son Asoka is a highly successful entrepreneur businessman, and his youngest son Monty Gopallawa who died in 2005 was a very popular member of parliament and an affable cabinet minister in the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga (daughter of Sirimavo Bandaranaike).

[edit] Honours

• Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) ^[1]
• LLD (Honaris Causea) from the University of Ceylon in 1962
• LLD from the Vidyalankara in 1962
• D.Litt. from the Vidyodaya in 1962.

[edit] See also

• Political Families of The World
• Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats

[edit] References

• The Gopallawa Ancestry
• Political Families of The World
• A dignified symbol of the nation Daily News on the 104th birth anniversary
• William Gopallawa, the first President The 31st anniversary of Presidency
• New York times news on Death
• First President of the Republic of Sri Lanka

[edit] External links

• Sri Lanka Government Web site
• William Gopallawa's presidential Flag on crwflags.com
• Methek Kathawa Divaina

v • d • e Presidents of Sri Lanka William Gopallawa • Junius Richard Jayewardene • Ranasinghe Premadasa • Dingiri Banda Wijetunga • Chandrika Kumaratunga • Mahinda Rajapaksa

v • d • e British Governors of Ceylon North · Maitland · Brownrigg · Paget · Barnes · Wilmot-Horton · Stewart-Mackenzie · Campbell · Torrington · G. Anderson · Ward · MacCarthy · Robinson · Gregory · Longdon · Hamilton-Gordon · Havelock · Ridgeway · Blake · McCallum · Chalmers · J. Anderson · Manning · Clifford  · Stanley · Thompson · Stubbs · Caldecott · Moore* · Soulbury* · Goonetilleke* · Gopallawa* * Held office of Governor-General of Ceylon.