who was the first female prime minister in world?

Answer 1

The first woman prime minister in the world

Priyath Liyanage: Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first woman prime minister in the world and she also went on to become the oldest prime minister. Mrs Bandaranaike was 84 years old when she died and she was still the prime minister at that age.

In 1959 her husband was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. When her husband was assassinated the party wanted to appoint a leader to become the prime minister. They had to face an election immediately after, so for this election they somehow managed to persuade Mrs Bandaranaike to contest* as the leader of the party. She was not a person who had any experience as a politician. She was a housewife who looked after her three children. Then they won the elections in the early sixties and she became the first woman prime minister in the world.

Answer 2

Siramavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) became the world's first female Prime Minister in 1960.

Answer 3

First female Prime Minister was Sirimavo Bandaranaike. It is amazing how many female Prime Ministers there have been/are now...

http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/00women3.htm

Answer 4

A very good question. And one that must make us realise that we are not the only Nation on Earth that have Prime Ministers and Female ones at that.

I think that with all the is happening in our own country our mindset is getting like that of America thinking we are the most important people on this planet of ours.

This response did not address your question; Sorry, but I hope you don't mind me having my say.

Answer 5

That would be Golda Meir of Israel in 1969.

*edit* What do I know, I always thought it was Meir, but I just looked up Sirimavo Bandaranaike and sure enough, it's her. Prime minister of Sri Lanka several times over, but for the first time in 1960.

Answer 6

1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman Prime MInister of the United Kingdom. She served in that position -- winning re-election in 1983 and in 1987 -- until resigning in 1990...

Answer 7

Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka.

Answer 8

It happened for the first time in the world in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) in July 1960 when Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike took over the reins of that country.

Bandaranaike was the widow of Solomon Bandaranaike who became prime minister of Ceylon in 1956 and was assassinated by a Buddhist monk three years later. Trying desperately to keep his coalition government together especially after splits had occurred, he alienated some of his followers, one of whom took it to the extreme and shot him at point-blank range.

During the political campaign of 1960, Mrs Bandaranaike was known as "the weeping widow" as she cried every time she spoke on the platform of her slain husband.

She died on October 19, 2000, a few months after she retired.
She had served on three occasions as prime minister of Sri Lanka - from1960-65, 1970-77 and 1994-2000. Her daughter Chandraika Kumaratunga later became the third president of that island.

Bandaranaike came to Jamaica in 1975 when the Commonwealth heads of government conference was held here. Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India, also attended the conference.
Bandaranaike became prime minister at least seven years before Gandhi was elected to lead India. When Gandhi became prime minister of India, however, Bandaranaike was in opposition in Ceylon having been defeated in the 1965 elections.

Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of India and is a part of the British Commonwealth. Its history is as old as the earth itself and its people are mainly Buddhist and Hindu. Early in the 16th century, the Portuguese invaded the island.

The Dutch later captured the island from the Portuguese and in time, the British captured Ceylon from the Dutch in 1602. In 1795, the British raided Ceylon and by 1832, Ceylon was a colony of England. After some political struggle, a new constitution was granted in 1947.

In February 1948, Ceylon gained its independence from Great Britain and Don Stephan Senayake became the first prime minister. Killed in a riding accident, he was succeeded by his son Dudley Senayake.

In 1956 Solomon Bandaranaike, a lawyer from 1925 up to the time of his death in 1959, led a coalition of socialist parties in the newly formed People's United Front and defeated Senayake.

In the Sri Lankan constitution a senator can be prime minister, which is how Sirimavo Bandaranaike became prime minister in 1960. In 1965, however, when the People's United Front lost power, Mrs Bandaranaike was elected a member of the House of Representatives and became leader of the opposition in Ceylon.

During her term as prime minister from1970 to 1977, the name of the nation was changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka (Blessed island) in 1972. It was at that same time that the nation became a republic. From that time on in the new constitution, the president assumed the real executive power with the prime minister becoming more of a figurehead.

It was also during this second stint in office that Bandaranaike in 1975, came to the Commonwealth heads of government conference in Jamaica, or more specifically at the Jamaica Pegasus. This was 10 years before the Jamaica Conference Centre was constructed.

During her term of office she moved swiftly to nationalise many institutions, such as insurance companies, banks and schools. A move to make one of the native languages the official language of Ceylon drew sharp protests. But her decision to have a coalition with the Marxists which resulted in a Marxist being named as a minister of government was the reason for her defeat in 1965.
By 1970 she returned to power.

It is of some significance that the first two women prime ministers in the world were in the British Commonwealth. It is also of significance that both are from countries surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

Israel's Golda Meir was the first woman prime minister outside of the British Commonwealth. Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of Great Britain in 1979, the same year Dominica's Eugenia Charles was elected to lead that country.

Answer 9

Margaret Thatcher?

Answer 10

What Thumberlina (who had the correct answer) forgot to mention was that the country concerned was Sri Lanka