"A country boy from the East, then elevated" (describing anniversary's principal character) (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
dalai lama
'elevated describing anniversary's principal character' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'a country boy from the east' is the wordplay.
'a country' becomes 'amalia' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'boy' becomes 'lad' (lad is a kind of boy).
'from the east' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'amalia'+'lad'='amalialad'
'amalialad' in reverse letter order is 'DALAI LAMA'.
'then' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dalai lama that I've seen before include "eastern leader" , "Titular Tibetan" , "Tibetan exile" , "World's Buddhist leader, once ruler of Tibet" , "Tibetan religious leader" .)