William Gopallawa

Legal career

In 1920, Gopallawa joined Ceylon Law College in Colombo 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 in 1939. He continued his practice on and off until he became the Municipal Commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council.

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, and was the youngest Urban Council Chairman in Ceylon at the time. In 1936, Gopallawa unsuccessfully contested for the Matale seat in the 1936 Ceylonese State Council elections.

In 1939, the Kandy Municipal Council was established and Gopallawa was appointed as the first municipal commissioner of Kandy. He served in this capacity throughout World War II and acquitted himself for efficiency during the intense floods in 1950. In 1951, he was appointed as municipal commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council and served until 1957, when he stepped down from the post. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1953 Coronation Honours.

Diplomatic career

On 18 June 1958 when S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike'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.

Governor-general (1962–1972)

In 1962, Gopallawa was called back to Ceylon, after his son in law's sister, then-incumbent prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, nominated Gopallawa as governor-general of Ceylon following Sir Oliver Goonetilleke's implication in the failed military coup attempt earlier that year. Gopallawa was the second native Ceylonese governor-general and the first Buddhist to hold the post as the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II, who was the head of state. Gopallawa served in this capacity until 1972, when he became the first president of Sri Lanka.

Gopallawa's constitutional decision to invite the United National Party (UNP), which won the majority of parliamentary seats in the 1965 general election, 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 Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) government who had first appointed him, who wanted him to delay inviting the winning party to form a government. Gopallawa's decision averted a major crisis of leadership.

Presidency (1972–1978)

When Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka on 22 May 1972, Gopallawa became the island's first president. Like the post of governor-general which it replaced, the presidency was largely ceremonial. Gopallawa stepped down from the presidency in February 1978, when then prime minister J. R. Jayewardene drafted a new constitution and created the executive presidency, thus enabling Jayawardene to ascend to the presidency.

International presidential trips

Summary of international trips

Gopallawa made 2 foreign trips to 3 countries as president.

1975

1977

Honours

• Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1953
• LLD (Honoris Causa) from the University of Ceylon in 1962
• LLD from the Vidyalankara in 1962
• D.Litt. from the Vidyodaya in 1962