Person

J. R. Jayewardene

1906–1996 · 20th century · Also known as Junius Richard Jayewardene

J. R. Jayewardene (1906–1996) was a Sri Lankan statesman of the United National Party who became prime minister in 1977 and, under the constitution of 1978, the country's first executive president, serving until 1989. He opened the economy to foreign investment and moved the parliament to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. His rule saw the anti-Tamil riots of 1983, the start of the civil war, and the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987.

J. R. Jayewardene
Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Sri Lanka

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). J. R. Jayewardene. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/j-r-jayewardene
MLA
“J. R. Jayewardene.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/j-r-jayewardene. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “J. R. Jayewardene.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/j-r-jayewardene.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘J. R. Jayewardene’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/j-r-jayewardene (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻