International Success and Domestic Failure: The World’s First Female Prime Minister and the Changing of Sri Lanka’s Official Language
First Female Prime Minister
"Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi received by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the Sri Lankan airport." Express Archives. April 1973.
"Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi Received by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the Sri Lankan Airport.” Express Archives. April 1973.
"Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi." International Center for Education and Training. 1972.
A source of Ceylonese pride in the 1960s, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was among pioneers of female diplomats like Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher who similarly adopted ideals of men of those times. Bandaranaike was from a wealthy political family in a country that valued education; Ceylon’s female literacy rates were rapidly increasing.
“Population by Ethnic Group and Census Years.” Statistics.gov.lk. Ca 1995.
American newspapers praised Bandaranaike for conducting diplomacy with boldness and confidence as the world’s first female prime minister.
"Ceylon's Woman Leader." The New York Times. July 22, 1960.
“Sirimavo Bandaranaike Is Interviewed about Being the First Female Prime Minister.” Getty Images. Ca. 1960.
