Aung San Suu Kyi Biography

Aung San Suu Kyi was originally included in this collection.  Due to recent events in Myanmar, her inclusion has been suspended. Her actions in regard to the atrocities against the Rohingya people will continue to be reviewed.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Aung San, the founder of independent Burma.  Sadly, he was assassinated by an opposing political group before the nation’s independence was won from the British.  Aung San Suu Kyi would follow her father’s passion and become one of the world’s great freedom fighters. 

A strong proponent of non-violent protest, Aung San Suu Kyi has led efforts for democratic reform against a regime noted for its brutality toward opposition.  Her reform efforts and aims of conciliation between ethnically divided regions of Burma, have earned her international recognition.  These efforts have, however, also earned her repeated detention at the hands of her own government.

Her numerous awards include the Nobel Peace Prize and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal.  Until her recent release from house arrest in November of 2010, she had spent 15 of the previous 21 years under detention and survived at least two attempts on her life.

In April of 2012, as the perseverant chairperson of the National League for Democracy, Suu Kyi was elected to the lower house of Parliament.  Two months later, she visited Oslo to accept her Nobel Prize, twenty-one years after her receipt of the honor.