William Gopallawa (, ; 17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was the last

Governor-General of Ceylon The Governor-General of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. History There were four governors-general. ...

from 1962 to 1972 and became the first and only non-executive and ceremonial President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared itself a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka. From 1948 to 1972, the

Dominion of Ceylon Between 1948 and 1972, Ceylon The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name. was an independent ...

was a

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

with

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

as the head of state and Queen of Ceylon. He served as Governor-General during the tenure of different governments headed by

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

of the

SLFP The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

and

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

of the UNP.

Early life and education

William Gopallawa was born on 17 September 1896 at the Dullewe Maha Walauwa, Dullewe, Aluvihare, a suburb of

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

. He was related to Dullewe

Dissava The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial ...

, a signatory on behalf of the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

to the Kandiyan Convention of 1815, by his mother Tikiri Kumarihamy Dullewe. His father,

Tikiri Bandara Gopallawa Tikiri is a village in Rayagada district Rayagada district is a district in southern Odisha, a state in India, which became a separate district in October 1992. Its population consists mainly of tribes, primarily the Khonds and the So ...

died when he was three years old. He received his primary education at the Dullewe village school and at St. John's College,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. He continued his secondary education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy where he was a Scout and later moved to

St. Anthony's College, Kandy St. Anthony's College, Kandy is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1854 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestrines, Syl ...

. After having sat the Cambridge Senior Certificate Examination in 1917, he returned to Matale and joined as one of the tutorial staff of the Buddhist English School and was also instrumental in setting up a library and a

Scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted inf ...

for the benefit of the students there.

Legal career

In 1920, Gopallawa joined the

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 enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and was enrolled as a Proctor and Notary Public in 1924. He started his legal practice as a junior to Bernard Aluwihare in the unofficial bar of Kandy and went on to develop a practice in Matale, Dumbara and Kandy from 1924 until he took up duties as Municipal Commissioner, Kandy in 1939. He continued his practice on and off until he became the Municipal Commissioner of

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...

Political career

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 to 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 State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

Elections in 1936. In 1939, the

Kandy Municipal Council The Kandy Municipal Council ( Sinhala: මහනුවර මහ නගර සභා ''Mahanuwara Maha Nagara Sabha'') is the local council for Kandy, the second largest city and ''hill capital'' of Sri Lanka. The council was formed under the M ...

was established and Gopallawa was appointed as the first Municipal Commissioner of Kandy. He served in that capacity throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and acquitted himself for efficiency during the great floods in 1950. In 1951, he was appointed as Municipal Commissioner of

and served until 1957, when he stepped down from the post. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1953 Coronation Honours.

Diplomatic role

On 18 June 1958 when

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

's government started diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Gopallawa was posted as the second Ambassador to China in 1960. On 7 September 1961, while he was serving in China, he was recalled and posted as the Ambassador to the United States; he served there until 1962. AtWhiteHouse

Governor-General of Ceylon and President of Sri Lanka

In 1962, he was called back to Ceylon, after his son in law's sister, the then prime minister

nominated Gopallawa as

following

Sir Oliver Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක) (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was a Sri Lankan statesman. Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceyl ...

's implication in the attempted military coup earlier that year. He was the second native Ceylonese Governor-General and the first Buddhist to hold the post as the viceregal representative of

who was the head of state. Gopallawa served in this capacity until 1972, when he became the first President of Sri Lanka. 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

) 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 on 22 May 1972, Gopallawa became the first President. He stepped down from office in February 1978 when then Prime Minister

Junius Richard Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

became President following constitutional changes that effected the creation of an executive Presidency.

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 titular head of state; he was acutely cognizant of his role as a unifier of all Sri Lankans during his tenure. He was the first to establish a spartan Buddhist shrine room at the President's House.

Family

On 8 March 1928, Gopallawa married Seelawathie Rambukwella; 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

. His oldest son Asoka is a entrepreneur businessman, His second daughter Chinthamani, was a teacher and landed proprietor, and his youngest son Monty Gopallawa who died in 2005, was a member of parliament and an affable cabinet minister in the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga (daughter of

). He had 13 grandchildren; Chandhaka, Dhammika, Mano, Anushka, Devika, Avanthi, Sureka, Lehka, Shiranthani, Ashani, Mahen, Shanika and Dilani.

Honours

Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in 1953 William Gopallawa, the first President
* LLD ( Honoris Causa) from the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

in 1962 * LLD from the Vidyalankara in 1962 *

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from the

Vidyodaya Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...

in 1962. * King Birendra of Nepal Coronation Medal on 24 February 1975

References

A dignified symbol of the nation
Daily News on the 104th birth anniversary

The 31st anniversary of Presidency

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121008115945/http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/01/30/fea02.asp First President of the Republic of Sri Lanka

External links

The Gopallawa Ancestry

on crwflags.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gopallawa, William 1896 births 1981 deaths Presidents of Sri Lanka Governors-general of Ceylon Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to China Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States Sinhalese politicians

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement Alumni of Dharmaraja College Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy Sri Lankan Buddhists People from Matale People of British Ceylon Scouting and Guiding in Sri Lanka Ceylonese proctors Sri Lankan notaries