William Gopallawa

President of Sri Lanka

17 September 1896 Matale, British Ceylon

31 January 1981(1981-01-31) (84) Colombo, Sri Lanka

22 May 1972 – 4 February 1978

William Gopallawa, MBE (Sinhala: විලියම් ගොපල්ලව, Tamil: வில்லியம் கோப்பல்லாவ ) (17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and became the first and only Non-Executive President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared itself a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka. Until 1972, Ceylon was a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and Queen of Ceylon. He served as Governor-General during the tenure of different governments headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike of the SLFP and Dudley Senanayake of the UNP.