Wajira Srimathi Dissanayake (; 7 January 1943 – 29 March 2019) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n lawyer, politician and 1994 UNP

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

candidate.

Early life and family

Dissanayake was born in 1943. She was the daughter of Piyasena Lenaduwa from

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

in southern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. She was educated at

Ladies' College, Colombo Ladies' College is a private girls' school in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka, founded on behalf of the Church Missionary Society by Lilian Nixon in 1900. The school is managed by the Church of Ceylon, Anglican Church of Ceylon, and falls ...

. After school Dissanayake joined

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

where she met her future husband

Gamini Dissanayake Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; ,; 20 March 1942 – 24 October 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister of the United National Party, and Leader of the Op ...

. They had two sons,

Navin Navin is a surname of various origins. In some cases, it is a Hebrew surname, whose Dutch derivative is Nawijn. In other cases, the surname is derived from the Gaelic surnames ''Mac Cnáimhín'' and ''Ó Cnáimhín''. Hanks; Coates; McClure (2016) ...

and Mayantha, both of whom are Members of Parliament, and a daughter, Varuni.

Career

Dissanayake was a lawyer by profession and was a member of the Central Provincial Council. Her husband Gamini Dissanayake, who was the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

, was chosen by the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

to be its candidate at the 1994 presidential election. However, he was killed in a suicide bombing on 24 October 1994, sixteen days before the election. The UNP, hoping to capitalise on the sympathy vote, chose Srima Dissanayake over former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...

and former first lady

Hema Premadasa Hema Premadasa (''née'' Wickramatunge; born 27 October 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician and widow of Ranasinghe Premadasa, 3rd President of Sri Lanka. She was the First Lady of Sri Lanka, first lady of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 to 1 May 1993 ...

to be Gamini Dissanayake’s replacement. However, many UNP officials refused to campaign for Srima Dissanayake who, for security reasons, campaigned through the media only. Dissanayake was heavily defeated by Prime Minister

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. ...

who swept the polls, winning in all but one of the 160 polling divisions. Dissanayake received 2,715,283 votes (35.91%), the lowest share for a major party candidate in any Sri Lankan presidential election. Dissanayake left politics afterwards and devoted herself to her family, the Gamini Dissanayake Foundation and the Gamini Dissanayake Institute of Technology and Vocational Studies. Dissanayake died at a private hospital in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

on 29 March 2019.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dissanayake, Srima 1943 births 2019 deaths Alumni of Ladies' College, Colombo Alumni of Ceylon Law College Members of the Central Provincial Council People from British Ceylon Sinhalese people Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan Buddhists Candidates in the 1994 Sri Lankan presidential election United National Party politicians

Early life and family

Career

See also

Notes

References