J. R. Jayewardene

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His Excellency J. R. Jayewardene
Jayewardene in 1984
2nd President of Sri Lanka
In office 4 February 1978 – 2 January 1989
Prime Minister	Ranasinghe Premadasa
Preceded by	William Gopallawa
Succeeded by	Ranasinghe Premadasa
7th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
In office 23 July 1977 – 4 February 1978
President	William Gopallawa
Preceded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Succeeded by	Ranasinghe Premadasa
6th Leader of the Opposition
In office 7 June 1970 – 18 May 1977
Prime Minister	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Preceded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Succeeded by	A. Amirthalingam
6th Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office 4 February 1978 – 9 September 1979
Preceded by	William Gopallawa
Succeeded by	Fidel Castro
Minister of Finance
In office 24 April 1960 – 20 July 1960
Prime Minister	Dudley Senanayake
Preceded by	Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
Succeeded by	Stanley de Zoysa
In office 26 September 1947 – 13 October 1953
Prime Minister	Don Stephen Senanayake Dudley Senanayake
Succeeded by	Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
Member of Parliament for Colombo West
In office 4 August 1977 – 4 February 1978
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Anura Bastian
Member of Parliament for Colombo South
In office 5 August 1960 – 18 May 1977
Preceded by	Edmund Samarawickrema
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament for Kelaniya
In office 30 March 1960 – 23 April 1960
Preceded by	R.G. Senanayake
Succeeded by	R.S. Perera
In office 14 October 1947 – 18 February 1956
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	R.G. Senanayake
Personal details
Born	Junius Richard Jayewardene (1906-09-17)17 September 1906 Colombo, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
Died	1 November 1996(1996-11-01) (aged 90) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political party	United National Party
Spouse	Elina Jayewardene ​ (m. 1935)​
Children	Ravi Jayewardene (Son)
Parents	Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene (father) Agnes Helen Wijewardene (mother)
Residence	Braemar
Alma mater	Colombo Law College, University College, Colombo, Royal College, Colombo, Bishop's College Colombo
Profession	Advocate
Signature

Junius Richard Jayewardene (Sinhala: ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන; Tamil: ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J.R., was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the second President of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in the 1977 parliamentary elections and served as prime minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.^[1]

A controversial figure in the history of Sri Lanka, while the open economic system he introduced in 1978 brought the country out of the economic turmoil Sri Lanka was facing as the result of the preceding closed economic policies,^[2] Jayawardene's actions, including his response to the Black July riots of 1983, have been accused of contributing to the beginnings of the Sri Lankan Civil War.^[3]