from 21st July 1960 to 25th March 1965 from 29th May 1970 to 23rd July 1977 from 14th November 1994 to 9th August 2000 Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhala_language" title="Sinhala language">Sinhala: සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language" title="Tamil language">Tamil: சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike (මැතිනිය),[note" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirimavo_Bandaranaike#cite_note-2">[note 1] was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elected_and_appointed_female_heads_of_state_and_government" title="List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government">world's first female prime minister when she became http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Sri_Lanka" title="Prime Minister of Sri Lanka">Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (then the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_Ceylon" title="Dominion of Ceylon">Dominion of Ceylon) in 1960.[2] She" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirimavo_Bandaranaike#cite_note-FOOTNOTE''The_Economist''2000-3">[2] She chaired the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Freedom_Party" title="Sri Lanka Freedom Party">Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, 1960 to 1965 and 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrika_Kumaratunga" title="Chandrika Kumaratunga">Chandrika Kumaratunga. Born into a Sinhalese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kandy" title="Kingdom of Kandy">Kandyan aristocratic family, Bandaranaike was educated in Catholic, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-medium_education" title="English-medium education">English-medium schools, but remained a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhist and spoke Sinhala as well as English. On graduating from secondary school, she worked for various social programmes before marrying and raising a family. Playing hostess to her husband http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._W._R._D._Bandaranaike" title="S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike">S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who founded the socialist SLFP in 1951 and became prime minister in 1956, she gained his trust as an informal advisor. Her social work focused on improving the lives of women and girls in rural areas of Sri Lanka. Following her husband's assassination in 1959, Bandaranaike was soon persuaded by the party leadership during a brief time in opposition to enter politics herself and succeed her husband as chairwoman; she returned her