William Gopallawa

President of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978

William Gopallawa (Sinhala: විලියම් ගොපල්ලව, Tamil: வில்லியம் கோப்பல்லாவ; 17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972. That year, Ceylon became a republic, and changed its name to Sri Lanka; he would serve as the first and only non-executive President of Sri Lanka until 1978. Gopallawa served as Governor-General during the tenure of three different governments, two headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and one headed by Dudley Senanayake of the United National Party.

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