[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ung San Suu Kyi is currently the chairperson of the NLD (National League for Democracy) in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which is the leading party since 1990. Over the years Aung San Suu Kyi has won an impressive array of peace and freedom of thought prizes, including the Nobel Peace prize in 1991.
Suu Kyi was born on 19th June 1945 in Yangon (Rangoon then) and was raised only by her mother, as her father, the man who negotiated Burma’s independence was assassinated in 1947. Her mother was also involved in politics, being the Burmese ambassador to India where Suu Kyi lived the first part of her life and got her first college degree in politics in the year 1964. Afterwards she went to further her studies, this time in the U.K. in 1969 (St. Hugh’s College, Oxford), majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After that she went on to live in New York and work for the United Nations for three years.
In the year 1988, she returned to Burma to take care of her mother and to begin leading the pro-democratic movement. For her views, she was put under house arrest on July 20th 1989 where she remained until 13th November 2010. She was offered freedom under the condition that she would leave the country, which she did not do, even after the 2008 cyclone which swept away the roof of her house, destroyed all electrical lines and forced her to use candles.
She is still an active part of the Burmese political scene, leading the NLD and traveling the world to speak at various conventions. Just like Mahatma Gandhi was an inspiration for her, she is now and inspiration for upcoming generation of peace preaching political peace. Now days she has won various peace awards and gained international support while under house arrest.
