J. R. Jayewardene

Who was J. R. Jayewardene?

Junius Richard Jayawardene, famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as President of Sri Lanka from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon 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 crushing victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.