Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became the first Sri Lankan to be awarded the Prestigious Medal of Commander in the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest rank of the National Order of France.

Jean-Marin Schuh, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, presented the Medal of “Commandeur de la Légion D'Honneur” on behalf of His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, at a special function held at the Residence of the Ambassador of France.

Kumaratunga served served two times as the  Executive President of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005. At present President Kumaratunga holds numerous Honorary positions including being a Member of Club de Madrid (the premier global forum of former democratic Presidents and Prime Ministers), a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation (led by former President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk), was an Advisor and Member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and is the Chairperson of the South Asian Policy and Research Institute and the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

She holds a Degree in Political Science from the prestigious Political Science Institute (Science Po) of the University of Paris and entered a Ph.D. Program in Development Economics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, University of Paris, where she studied from 1970-1973