William Gopallawa

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William Gopallawa

William Gopallawa , MBE (born September 17, 1897 in Dullewa, Central Province , † January 31, 1981 in Colombo ) was a Sri Lankan politician and notary . He was also the last Governor General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and, after the state was renamed, the first President of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978 .

Life

Willian Gopallawa was born on September 17, 1897, the son of Tikiri Kumarihamy Dullewa, a descendant of Dullewa Maha Adikaram, one of the signatories of the Kandyan Convention of 1815 (the agreement to cede the Kingdom of Kandy to the British due to the military superiority of Great Britain ) and Tikiri Banda Gopallawa, who died when his son was about three years old, was born. He attended Dullewa Village School and St. John's College (now Mahanama Maha Vidyalaya ) in Kandy . He later continued his education at Dharmaraja College and later moved to St. Anthony's College in Kandy. From 1958 to 1961 he was his country's ambassador to the People's Republic of China , and from 1961 to 1962 to the United States .

Gopallawa died on January 31, 1981 after a heart attack in a Colombo hospital . He was 83 years old.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daily News: President William Gopallawa: A dignified symbol of the nation , Nov. 17, 2001
  2. ^ Daily News: First President of the Republic of Sri Lanka , Jan. 30, 2009
  3. ^ The New York Times : William Gopallawa, 83, ex-Sri Lanka President , Feb. 1, 1981