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Mahinda Rajapaksa Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 29, 2026 • 3 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth18 November 1945

Age77 Years

BirthplaceWeeraketiya, Southern Province, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)

ProfessionPolitician and Lawyer

NationalitySri Lankan

Marital statusMarried

SpouseShiranthi Rajapaksa

FamilyElder brother of Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Mahinda Rajapaksa Biography

Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer who has served multiple terms as president and prime minister. Born in 1945 in Weeraketiya, he rose

Early life and background

Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa was born on 18 November 1945 in Weeraketiya, in what was then British Ceylon. He attended Richmond School, Nalanda College and Thurstan College before studying law at Colombo Law College, where he earned an LLB. Raised in a Sinhalese Buddhist family, he identifies with the Buddhist faith and has roots in the southern Matara region, with Palatuwa cited as his hometown.

Career

Rajapaksa trained as a lawyer before entering politics. His political activity dates back to the late 1960s, when he served as a branch secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile Union in 1967. He first entered parliament in 1970 and, after a period out of office during the late 1970s, returned to the legislature in 1989.

Across a long public career he has held several ministerial portfolios. In the 1990s he served as Minister of Labour and later as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. He returned to parliament in the early 2000s and briefly served as prime minister in 2004. From 2004 to 2005 he held additional responsibilities for the highways, ports and shipping portfolio.

Rajapaksa was elected president of Sri Lanka in 2005 and was re-elected in 2010, serving as the country’s head of state until 2015. After his presidency he returned to parliamentary roles and continued to be active in party leadership. He became chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) after its formation in 2016 and later served as prime minister from 2020 to 2022. His party affiliations have included long association with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1967 until 2016, and membership of the SLPP from 2016 onwards.

Honours and recognition

Over the years Rajapaksa has received a number of honorary degrees and awards. They include an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Colombo in 2009 and an honorary doctorate from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in 2010 recognizing contributions cited by that institution. He received an honorary doctorate from Beijing Language and Culture University in 2011 and was awarded the Order of the Star of Palestine in 2014. In 2004 Nalanda College conferred the Nalanda Keerthi Sri award, and in January 2022 he was named Professor Emeritus by Visva Bharati University.

Public profile

Rajapaksa is a prominent and polarising figure in contemporary Sri Lankan politics. He is widely known for his central role in the final stages of the country’s long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a period that drew significant international attention and scrutiny. Various international reports and media investigations have accused elements of the Sri Lankan state of serious human rights violations during the final phase of the war and prompted calls for independent investigations. The Sri Lankan government disputed those accounts and presented alternative narratives to international bodies.

Throughout his career Rajapaksa has faced multiple allegations and controversies. Critics and some commentators have accused his administrations of corruption, misuse of funds, and electoral improprieties, and there have been reporting and official inquiries touching on these matters at different times. He has also been linked in reporting to allegations concerning the treatment of journalists and to disputes over commercial dealings tied to infrastructure projects; he has publicly denied some of those specific allegations and characterised parts of the reporting as politically motivated.

Personal life

Mahinda Rajapaksa is married to Shiranthi Rajapaksa and is the elder brother of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Physical descriptions in public materials list his height around 175 cm (about 5'9"), with dark brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. He has been identified by several nicknames in media coverage.

Latest updates

Since 2016 Rajapaksa has been identified with the SLPP and has continued to play a leading role in Sri Lankan politics, including serving as prime minister from 2020 until 2022. He remains an active figure in party leadership and national political life.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Mahinda Rajapaksa, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Served as prime minister from 2020 to 2022 and continued as chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

2020-2022
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Career Highlights

  1. Member of Parliament (first elected 1970)
  2. Minister of Labour (1994-1997)
  3. Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (1997-2001)
  4. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (2004)
  5. President of Sri Lanka (2005-2015)
  6. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2016-present)
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Mahinda Rajapaksa born?

Mahinda Rajapaksa was born on 18 November 1945.

What is Mahinda Rajapaksa known for?

Mahinda Rajapaksa is known for politician and Lawyer.

What is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s marital status?

Mahinda Rajapaksa's marital status is listed as Married.

Who is Mahinda Rajapaksa married to?

Mahinda Rajapaksa is publicly listed as married to Shiranthi Rajapaksa.