William Gopallawa

Infobox President
name = William Gopallawa
order =1st President of Sri Lanka


term_start =May 22, 1972
term_end =February 4, 1978
predecessor =
successor =Junius Richard Jayewardene
order2 = 4th Governor-General of Ceylon
president2 =
deputy2 =
term_start2 = March 2, 1962
term_end2 = May 22, 1972
predecessor2 = Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
successor2 = Post abolished
order3 = 5th Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
term_start3 = August 19, 1976
term_end3 = February 4, 1978
predecessor3 = Houari Boumédienne
successor3 = Junius Richard Jayawardene
birth_date =birth date|1897|9|17|mf=y
birth_place = Matale,Ceylon
death_date =death date and age|1981|1|31|1897|9|17|mf=y
death_place =flagicon|Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka
spouse = Seelawathie Rambukwella Gopallawa
party =
religion =Buddhist

William Gopallawa (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 thus changing its name to Sri Lanka. Till 1972 Ceylon was an independent Monarchy within the Commonwealth with the Monarch of the United Kingdom as the 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 under 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.

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 Maha Adikaram, 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.

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 1926 - 1939. He served as the chairman of the Matale Urban Council for 5 years, at his office he was the youngest chairman in the 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 2 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.

Diplomatic career

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. In 1962, he was called back to Ceylon and appointed as the Governor-General of Ceylon.

Governor-General of Ceylon

He served as the Governor-General of Ceylon until 1972. His role as Governor General of Ceylon was to be the representative for the Queen of England as the Head of State of Ceylon at that time.William Gopallawa was also the first Buddhist Governor General of Ceylon and the second Ceylonese Governor General, he was nominated by Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

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 Prime Minister Junius Richard Jayewardene had the constitution changed creating the executive Presidency with more powers, and Jayewerdene became President.

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 caroling 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.

Family

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

References

* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3004.htm The Gopallawa Ancestry]
* [http://internet-moneys.com/data/Political_families_of_the_world Political Families of The World]
* [http://www.dailynews.lk/2001/09/17/fea01.html A dignified symbol of the nation] Daily News on the 104th birth anniversary
* [http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/05/22/fea05.html William Gopallawa, the first President] The 31st anniversary of Presidency
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E0D9123BF932A35751C0A967948260 New York times news on Death]

See also

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Non_Career_Diplomats Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats]

External links

* [http://www.gov.lk/info/index.asp?mi=19&xp=59&xi=78&xl=3&o=0&t= Sri Lanka Government Web site]
* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/lk-pre.html#wp William Gopallawa's presidential Flag] on crwflags.com