Chandra Ranaraja

Chandra Ranaraja (née Mahadiulwewa) (19392 March 2016) was the first female mayor in Sri Lanka, when she was elected the mayor of Kandy in 1990.

The eldest in a family of seven children, Chandra was born in Anuradhapura in 1939. Her grandfather, D. P. B. Mahadiulwewa, was Chairman of the Village Tribunals, which functioned during British colonial times. Her father was S. H. Mahadiulwewa (1906–1988), Kachcheri Mudliyar of Anuradhapura and the member of parliament for Kalawewa between 1947 and 1952. and was one of the first women to attend the University of Peradeniya from the Northern Central Province, graduating with a teaching degree in 1961. she moved to Kandy, and taught at the Girls’ High School. She entered local politics and was elected a member of the Kandy Municipal Council.

Her daughter Aruni is the Ambassador to the Philippines. Ranaraja died on 2 March 2016 at 77 years old.