Aung San Suu Kyi

Burmese Pro-Democracy Activist Aung San Suu Kyi

Biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition leader
Source:ABC News, New York City 
  Birthdate
  June 19,1945 

  Birthplace
  Rangoon,
  Burma 

  Education
  Oxford
  University, BA
  in philosophy,
  politics,
  economics,
  1967
AUNG SAN SUU KYI had settled in to a quiet life as the mother of two and wife of a British professor when a return trip to her native Burma in 1988 turned her life around. Nine years and one Nobel Peace Prize later, Suu Kyi stands as Burma's adored national champion of democracy and human rights. Her current role as a democracy activist is fitting. Suu Kyi'sfather, Gen. Aung San, led Burma's struggle for independence from Britain in the mid-1940s. His daughter was 2 years old when enemies assassinated him in 1947, the year before Burma finally won its freedom. Tales of her father's heroism inspired Suu Kyi, charging her sense of idealism and responsibility to the Burmese people. Even as a young woman living thousands of miles away in England, she knew the day might come when her country would need her: In a 1971 letter to her husband-to-be, she worried that "national considerations might tear us apart."

"The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations. The people of my country want the two freedoms that spell security: freedom from want and freedom from fear." Aung San Suu Kyi

That time came in March 1988, when Suu Kyi returned to Burma to care for her dying mother. Four months later, Gen. Ne Win, the head of Burma's brutal socialist government, stepped down and a massive pro-democracy movement was born. Suu Kyi joined in, speaking at hundreds of rallies and helping to found the National League for Democracy. Determined nonviolence became her strength as she repeatedly faced down rifles with calm fearlessness. Her popularity swelled and supporters began to reverently refer to her as "the Lady."

"Suu is one of those rare individuals who symbolize not just the courage of human beings, but the courage of an entire country. ... There's an almost mystical identity between her and the Burmese people." David Arnott of the Burma Peace Foundation, Los Angeles Times, December 1991

Though soldiers refused to fire at Suu Kyi, they killed and tortured thousands of other protesters. The military regained control of the country in September, forming the State Law and Order Restoration Council. When their vicious slander campaign against Suu Kyi failed to stop her, they placed her under house arrest in July 1989. International pressure to release her began in 1991, when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Companies pulled their business out of the country, and human-rights groups worldwide denounced the ruling military junta. Suu Kyi's captors finally relented in July 1995. Despite her freedom, which is still tightly restricted, battles continue to rage in Burma. Faced with the military's refusal to negotiate and a demoralized democracy movement, Suu Kyi now hopes that international pressure, namely sanctions and tourist boycotts, will be the key to political changes in her homeland.

Source ABC News, New York City

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