Sentinel Digital Desk
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's fight against military dictatorship was born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) on June 19, 1945.
Her father General Aung San, an Independence hero negotiated Burma's independence from the UK in 1947 but was assassinated in the same year.
In 1960 her mother, Daw Khin Kyi was chosen to be the Burmese Ambassador to India, Suu Kyi shifted with her mother to New Delhi where she attended and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi.
In 1964, Suu Kyi went to England for further education, and in 1967 she received a B.A. degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from St. Hugh’s College of Oxford Academy.
In 1969, she postponed her studies in New York in order to work as an Assistant Secretary at the U.N. Secretariat.
In 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Michael Aris, a Tibetan culture scholar whom she had met while studying in England.
Her first political action was sending an open letter to the Burmese government “asking for formation of independent consultative committee to prepare multi-party elections”, but the government instead imposed stricter laws.
Found guilty of delivering fiery speeches against the government and defying the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) law, San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest till July 10, 1995.
The military junta refused to acknowledge the 82% win of Suu Kyi's NLD party and continued to remain in power on May 27, 1990.
During her house arrest, she was awarded a number of human rights awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, which was accepted by her sons Alexander and Kim on her behalf.
After several on and off house arrests, Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest on November 13th, 2010, only to miss the first democratic elections since 1990.
In a 2013 interview with the BBC, Aung San Suu Kyi did not condemn the Rohingya genocide and denied that Muslims have been subjected to ethnic cleansing.
In 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi was accused of failing to protect Rohingya Muslims persecution. Crime experts from Queen Mary University, London cited that Aung San Suu Kyi was "legitimising genocide" in Myanmar.
In Nov 2020, Suu Kyi's ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) secured enough seats in Parliament to form the next government.
Following a military coup on 1 February 2021, Suu Kyi and several leaders were arrested in Myanmar. The present whereabouts of Suu Kyi stays unknown.