Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000) was a Sri Lankan politician. She served as prime minister three times and was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She was the first female to be elected head of government in the world. Bandaranaike was the widow of a previous prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike, who was murdered in 1959. Her policies were based in socialism and similar to her husband's. All three of their children later served in the Sri Lankan government.