Here is a glimpse into the life of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese activist and Nobel Prize of Peace winner.

Staff

Date of Birth: June 19, 1945

Place of birth: Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar (Burma)

Birth name: Aung San Suu Kyi

Dad: Aung San, commander of the Burma Independence Army who helped negotiate Burma’s independence from Britain. He was assassinated on July 19, 1947.

Mother: Ma Khin Kyi, diplomat then ambassador to India.

Wedding: Michael Aris (January 1, 1972 – March 27, 1999, his death)

Children: Kim (Burmese name: Htein Lin), 1977; Alexander (Burmese name: Myint San Aung), 1973

Education: St. Hughes College, Oxford University, BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 1967

Religion: Buddhist

Other facts

Called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, where “Daw” is an honorary title.

Raised in Myanmar and India, but moved to England in the 1960s.

Chronology

1964 – Moves to England to study at the University of Oxford.

1969-1971 – Work at the The United Nations in New York as deputy secretary of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.

1985-1986 – is a visiting scholar at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan.

1987 – Is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Simla, India.

April 1988 – Returns to Myanmar when her mother suffers from a severe stroke.

August 26, 1988 – In her first public speech, in front of Shwedagon Pagoda, she calls for a democratic multi-party government.

September 24, 1988 – Co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD), a party dedicated to non-violence and civil disobedience, and was appointed secretary general.

July 20, 1989 – Is placed under house arrest on charges of attempting to divide the army, charges she denies.

May 27, 1990 – His party, the NLD, wins more than 80% of the legislative seats, but the State Council for the Restoration of Law and Order (SLORC) does not recognize the election results.

July 10, 1991 – Wins the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Human Rights.

October 14, 1991 – Earn it Nobel Prize of Peace “For his non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

July 10, 1995 – Is released from house arrest, but her political activity is restricted.

September 23, 2000 – Is again placed under house arrest.

December 6, 2000 – US President Bill Clinton awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Suu Kyi in absentia.

May 6, 2002 – Is released from house arrest.

May 30, 2003 – While on a trip to Myanmar, her motorcade is attacked by a pro-government mob, and she is detained by the military and then placed under house arrest.

November 29, 2004 – Learns that his house arrest has been extended for one year.

May 2006 – The house arrest is extended for one year.

June 9, 2006 – Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Sean McCormack told reporters Suu Kyi had been hospitalized with an undisclosed illness.

May 25, 2007 – The government is extending his house arrest for one year.

May 6, 2008 – US President George W. Bush signs a law awarding a congressional gold medal in absentia to Suu Kyi.

May 27, 2008 – The government is extending his house arrest for one year.

May 14, 2009 – Suu Kyi is arrested and charged with violating the terms of her house arrest. This is in response to an incident earlier this month, when American John Yettaw swam uninvited in Suu Kyi’s lakefront home. If found guilty, she faces up to five years in prison.

May 18, 2009 – Suu Kyi’s trial for government subversion begins.

Aug 11, 2009 – Suu Kyi is found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest and sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest.

May 7, 2010 – The NLD refuses to register for the election, thereby disqualifying itself as a political party, and officially dissolves itself.

November 13, 2010 – Suu Kyi is released from house arrest. She has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest.

November 15, 2010 – Speaking to reporters at NLD headquarters, Suu Kyi pledges to continue working to restore democracy and improve human rights in Myanmar.

January 28, 2011 – Suu Kyi’s recorded message is broadcast to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, in which she underscores the need for Myanmar to reconnect with the rest of the world.

November 18, 2011 – Nyan Win, spokesperson for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, said Suu Kyi will participate in the upcoming elections. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy announced earlier today that it plans to re-register as a political party and participate in all future parliamentary elections.

December 13, 2011 – The NLD is allowed to register for future elections in Myanmar.

Jan. 18, 2012 – Registration to run for a parliamentary seat.

April 1, 2012 – Won a seat in parliament in Myanmar’s first multi-party elections since 1990.

May 2, 2012 – Along with 33 other newly elected members of his party, the NLD is sworn in for Myanmar’s parliament, resolving a deadlock over oath wording that prevented it from sitting in the legislature.

May 29, 2012 – Make history by walking on foreign soil for the first time in over two decades when she arrives in Bangkok, Thailand.

June 1, 2012 – Suu Kyi speaks at the World Economic Forum on East Asia.

June 16, 2012 – Delivers his acceptance speech for his 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, in Oslo, Norway.

June 21, 2012 – Addressed to both Houses of the British Parliament.

September 19, 2012 – Suu Kyi accepts the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, DC. She meets later US President Barack Obama.

November 19, 2012 – Meet Obama at the lakeside villa where she has spent years under house arrest. Obama congratulates Suu Kyi for his courage and determination during his visit to Myanmar, the first visit by a sitting US president.

March 10, 2013 – Wins his re-election as leader of the opposition.

October 22, 2013 – Suu Kyi accepts the 1990 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in Strasbourg, France, which was originally awarded to her in 1991.

June 10-14, 2015 – During his first visit to China, meets Chinese President Xi Jinping as she starts a trip that will focus on her apparent transition from human rights defender to pragmatic politician.

November 13, 2015 – Myanmar Election Commission announces that Suu Kyi’s NLD party won a historic majority in the country’s first free parliamentary elections. Suu Kyi is unable to become president due to a constitutional amendment that prohibits anyone with foreign parents from becoming the leader of the country.

April 5, 2016 – Suu Kyi is appointed State Councilor, a role created especially for her. The position allows her to be in contact with ministries, departments, organizations, associations and individuals, and makes her accountable to parliament, according to Myanmar state media. While Suu Kyi does not have the right to hold the post of president, the new post should largely allow him to govern by proxy.

September 14, 2016 – Suu Kyi meets Obama in the White House for the first time since becoming the de facto leader of his country. Upon Suu Kyi’s arrival, Obama issues a statement saying he will restore Myanmar to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which will help Myanmar in economic development, exporting goods and creating jobs. .

April 5, 2017 – Speaking to BBC, Suu Kyi denies ethnic cleansing against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority, in the middle of reports of human rights violations in Rakhine.

March 7, 2018 – The US Holocaust Museum announces that it cancels the Elie Wiesel Prize granted to Suu Kyi in 2012 due to her inability to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State in Myanmar.

November 13, 2018 – Amnesty International announces its decision to revoke Suu Kyi’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, which she received from them in 2009. Suu Kyi has seen a string of awards and honors revoked amid the Rohingya crisis.

December 2019 – Suu Kyi heads legal team at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands after the nation of Gambia filed a complaint with the World Court alleging that Myanmar committed “acts of genocide” which “were aimed at destroying the [country’s persecuted] Rohingya as a group ”through mass murder, rape and destruction of communities.

January 23, 2020 – Myanmar’s highest court orders to prevent acts of genocide against the Rohingya and to stop destroying evidence.

November 13, 2020 – NLD of Suu Kyi, the ruling party of Myanmar, wins enough parliamentary seats to form the next government, according to the official results of a general election.

February 1, 2021 – Burmese army seizes power in coup, declares state of emergency, after detaining Suu Kyi and other senior government officials in morning raids.

March 1, 2021 – Suu Kyi appears in court via video conference where she is charged with two other counts. One under Myanmar’s colonial-era penal code prohibiting the publication of information that could “cause fear or alarm”, and another under a telecommunications law stipulating licenses for the equipment, his lawyer said according to Reuters. This brings the total charges against her to four. In February, she was indicted under a national disaster law and one count under the country’s Import and Export Act.

April 12, 2021 –Suu Kyi’s attorney told CNN that Suu Kyi faces a sixth charge under the country’s national disaster management law. Earlier this month, Suu Kyi was accused of violating the law on official secrets.

April 16, 2021 – Opponents of the military junta announce the creation of an interim government of national unity and appoint Suu Kyi as de facto leader.

May 24, 2021 – Suu Kyi attends a court hearing, his first in-person appearance since the military took power on February 1.

June 14, 2021 – Suu Kyi’s trial begins. The trial has three counts, including that of Suu Kyi, who allegedly violated a communications law by importing and using a number of walkie-talkie radios, and violated coronavirus restrictions during last year’s election campaign.