Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19, 1945 in the city of Rangoon, Myanmar (then Burma). She
is the daughter of General Aung San and Daw Khin Kyi. Her father was the national leader of
Burma until his assassination on July 17, 1947. His death is considered to be one of the main
contributors to her fight for peace and independence for the country of Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi was educated in the city of Rangoon until she was 15 years old. In 1960, her
mother was appointed the Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal. She accompanied her mother to
Delhi where she studied politics at Delhi University.
From 1964 to 1967, she continued her education at St. Hugh's College and Oxford University
(elected Honorary Fellow in 1990) where she received a bachelors degree in economics, politics,
and philosophy. During the next several years she worked abroad, including an assignment with
the United Nations in New York. In 1972, she met the British Tibetan scholar Dr. Michael Aris
and the couple soon married. In 1973, Suu Kyi gave birth to her first child, Alexander in
London. In 1977 she later gave birth to her second child, Kim, in Oxford.
After living in Oxford for many years, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to nurse her
sick mother. While in Burma she joined the pro-democracy movement, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), which was pushing for political reforms in Burma. Suu Kyi became leader of
the NLD and her outspoken criticism of the military leaders of Myanmar and the memory of her
father made her a symbol of popular desire for political freedom and a focus of opposition to
the dictatorship.
Aung San Suu Kyi traveled extensively throughout the country, giving hundreds of speeches
often to crowds of thousands, in an attempt to unite the people and reinstill their courage in
achieving their long-sought goal of freedom. She was loved and revered by the Burmese people
in their's country's time of darkness. In courageous defiance of the military edict forbidding
gatherings of more than four, people turned out in mass to listen to Aung San Suu Kyi wherever
she spoke. As Aung San Suu Kyi gained in popularity, military harassment of her campaign
esclated. In July, 1989, she was placed under house arrest.
In 1990, Myanmar held a federal election and the military State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) allowed for a multi-party general election. The NLD, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi,
won the parliamentary election in a landslide; however the SLORC refused to recognize the
election results and proceeded to put elected government leaders under house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi would spend the next six years of her life at her lakeside villa in Rangoon
to serve her house arrest. She wrote many speeches and books that were published. During this
time she received many awards dealing with her great aspiration toward peace. However, what is
considered to be her greatest honor was the Nobel Peace Prize that she won on October 14, 1991.
With her prize money of 1.3 million dollars she established a health and education trust for the
Burmese people. In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, she has won numerous awards and honors
most notably the Rafto Human Rights Prize and the Sakhorov Prize.
In May 1992, the SLORC allowed Dr. Miachael Aris, Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, and her two sons
to visit her for the first time in almost three years. She was released from house arrest in
1995, but her movements are restricted to the area around Yangon (formerly Rangoon), Myanmar's
capital. Nonetheless, she has stayed in Myanmar, continuing to write and speak for her cause.
Aung San Suu Kyi continued to fight for dialogue with the military rulers and a peaceful
transition to a democratic government. In the summer of 1998, she attempted to leave the
city to meet with NLD officials, but military officers stopped her car at the Yangon border;
after a standoff lasting several days, the officials escorted her to her Yangon home.
In March 1999, her husband, Michael Aris, died of prostate cancer in London. Aris was a senior
research fellow in Tibetan and Himalayan studies at Oxford University. The Myanmar government
denied Aris's requests to visit his wife in Myanmar but said it would allow Aung San Suu Kyi
to leave Myanmar to visit him. She refused, fearing that she would not be allowed back into
her homeland if she left.
Aung San Suu Kyi keeps on fighting for democracy and freedom in her homeland of Burma. She
has dedicated her life to the citizens of Burma so that they can experience the freedom that
they deserve. She has secured her name in Burmese history and will forever fight for democracy.
Other Links of interest
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi web site
Free Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi
