J. R. Jayewardene (1977-1989)
Junius Richard Jayewardene, famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second President of Sri Lanka from 1978 till 1989.
Ranasinghe Premadasa (1989-1993)
Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa was the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 to 1 May 1993. Before that, he served as the Prime Minister in the government headed by J. R. Jayewardene from 6 February 1978 to 1 January 1989.
Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (1993-1994)
Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth President of Sri Lanka from 1 May 1993 to 12 November 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993 and the Governor of North Western province, Sri Lanka from 1988 to 1989.
Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga (1994-2005)
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born 29 June 1945 is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. The country’s only female president to date, she is the daughter of two former prime ministers and also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until the end of 2005.
Mahinda Rajapakse (2005-2015)
Percy Mahendra “Mahinda” Rajapaksa, MP born 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 19 November 2005 to 9 January 2015. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and he served as Prime Minister from 6 April 2004 until his victory in the 2005 presidential election. He was sworn in for his first six-year term as President on 19 November 2005. He was re-elected for a second term on 27 January 2010. He was defeated in his bid for a third term in the 2015 presidential election by Maithripala Sirisena and left office on 9 January 2015.
Gotabaya Rajapakse (2019-2021)
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, born 20 June 1949 is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seven President of Sri Lanka from 19 November 2019 to 11 July 2021. He was educated at Ananda College, Colombo and joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1971. During his military service, he earned a Master’s Degree in Defense Studies from the University of Madras and underwent advanced training in Pakistan, India and the USA. Having commanded many anti-terrorist operations in the North and East of Sri Lanka, he was awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama and Rana Sura Padakkama Medals for Gallantry and Excellence in combat. He also received commendations from the President of Sri Lanka and the Commander of the Army for his bravery in action. After retiring from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1991, Mr. Rajapaksa studied Information Technology at the University of Colombo where he attained a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. He later emigrated to the USA with his family where he worked as an IT professional at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California.