Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (April 17, 1916 - October 10, 2000) was a politician from Sri Lanka. She was prime minister of Sri Lanka three times, 1960-1965, 1970-1977 and 1994-2000, and was the world's first female prime minister. She was a leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She was the wife of a previous Sri Lankan prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike and the mother of Sri Lanka's third president, Chandrika Kumaratunga. She was also mother of Anura Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan tourism minister and Sunethra Bandaranaike, philanthropist.

Style of functioning
Known to her fellow Sri Lankans as "Mrs. B," she could skilfully use popular emotion to boost her support, frequently bursting into tears as she pledged to continue her dead husband's policies. He, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, was shot dead by a man dressed as a Buddhist monk in 1959. Her opponents and critics called her the "weeping widow" .