Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lanka

At the beginning of the 20th century, the island which is now Sri Lanka was the British colony of Ceylon. Among the natives, a leading official in the colonial government was Sir Solomon Bandaranaike. His son, also named Solomon, was born in 1899. Young Solomon entered politics as a young man and had been at it for nearly a decade when he met his wife. Sirimavo Ratwatte was born to a prominent wealthy family. She was intellectually lively but not particularly interested in politics before she met Solomon. They married in 1940, when he was 41 and she was 24. Over the next several years she gradually became involved in his political career. In 1951 he led the formation of a new party, and in 1956 he became prime minister.

In 1959 Mr B was assassinated, whereupon Mrs B assumed leadership of the party. Less than a year later, after two other short-lived governments had failed, she won election in her own right. She served two terms as prime minister, in 1960-1965 and 1970-1977, and was leader of the opposition during the years in between. She was resoundingly defeated in 1977 and a few years later was expelled from parliament on a corruption charge.

Two of their children followed them into politics, daughter Chandrika and son Anura. (Although I'm not going to go into any details here, it's worth noting that in the tangled politics of Sri Lanka, the various family members were not always politically united.) Chandrika B entered politics in 1974. In 1977 she married Vijara Kumaratunga, a movie star turned politician, and took his name. He was assassinated in 1988. In 1994 she was elected president, and she served two terms totaling 11 years. During the first term, she appointed her mother Sirimako Bandaranaike prime minister. By that time the form of government had changed and prime minister was no longer a powerful position.

Her brother Anura has been a member of parliament since 1977 and remains one to this day. He has served in many ministerial posts over the years, including spells as speaker and as foreign minister. He is frequently mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, but he has yet to run.

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