Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19, 1945 in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar). She is a politician, opposition leader and author. She is the daughter of one of Burma’s most significant freedom fighters, Aung San, who is considered the father of the nation. Her mother Khin Kyi was the first woman to be appointed as Burma’s Ambassador to India.
Suu Kyi graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi with a B.A. in politics in 1964 and from the University of Oxford with a M.A in politics in 1968. She worked for the United Nations for 3 years and met her future husband, Dr. Michael Aris, during this time. They married on January 1, 1972 and had two sons, Alexander Aris and Kim Aris.
In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Burma to nurse her ailing mother. Burma was under the rule of the Military Junta, led by the dictator U Ne Win at that time. Suu Kyi became involved in a struggle for democracy and human rights in her country. She co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1988 and rallied her people to protest in a non-violent manner against the military government. She was placed under house arrest in July 1989 and remained separated from her husband and sons for many years.
Her struggle has captured worldwide attention since then and she has been awarded numerous prizes in recognition of her political work. Most notable of these was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 2015, she led the NLD to victory in Myanmar’s first openly contested election in 25 years. However, she was side-lined in February, 2021 when the military seized power yet again.
Recently, however, Suu Kyi faced some criticism for not doing anything to stop the atrocities against the Rohingya minority.
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