Timeline Description: Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945) is an opposition leader in her home country of Myanmar, and is a chairperson of the country's National League for Democracy. Her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar span several decades, most of which she spent in detention. She has become an international symbol of peaceful resistance, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 19, 1945 | Aung San Suu Kyi is born. On June 19, 1945, Aung San Suu Kyi is born in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar). Her father, Aung San, is the commander of the Burma Independence Army, and her mother, Ma Khin Kyi, is a senior nurse. Suu Kyi is named after her father, mother, and grandmother, and has two older brothers, though her favorite brother drowns at an early age. |
| July 19, 1947 | General Aung San is assassinated. When Suu Kyi is only two years old, her father, General Aung San, is assassinated, just six months before Myanmar becomes independent. Her mother, now known as Daw Khin Kyi, becomes a prominent public figure, working for the External Affairs Ministry. |
| 1960 | Suu Kyi's mother is appointed ambassador to India. In 1960, Suu Kyi's mother, Daw Khin Kyi, is appointed Myanmar's ambassador to India. Suu Kyi joins her mother in New Delhi, where she attends high school. She graduates from Lady Shri Ram College of Delhi University. |
| 1967 | Suu Kyi earns her bachelor's degree from Oxford University. From 1964 to 1967, Suu Kyi attends Oxford University, and she earns her bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at St. Hugh's College in 1967. She grows close to the family of Lord Gore-Booth, former British ambassador to Myanmar, and meets Michael Aris, her future husband. |
| 1969 | Suu Kyi moves to New York, where she joins the U.N. Secretariat. In 1969, Suu Kyi moves to New York to pursue graduate work, but she postpones her studies to join the U.N. Secretariat as Assistant Secretary. She lives in New York until 1971, spending her evenings and weekends volunteering at hospitals. |
| January 1, 1972 | Suu Kyi marries Michael Aris. On January 1, 1972, Suu Kyi marries Michael Aris, the Tibetan culture scholar she met at Oxford University. They eventually have two sons. She travels with him to Bhutan, where he becomes the head of the Translation Department and tutors the royal family. Suu Kyi takes a position as Research Officer in the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
| 1987 | Suu Kyi completes her fellowship in India. While raising their two children, Suu Kyi researches and writes several books, including a profile of her father. The family spends time in England, Japan, the United States, and India. Suu Kyi completes her fellowship at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Shimla, India, in 1987. |
| August 26, 1988 | Suu Kyi declares her support for a revolt against General Ne Win. In 1988, Suu Kyi returns to Myanmar to look after her mother, who has fallen critically ill. The country is in the midst of a revolution, as protestors rally against the dictator General Ne Win and his strict military junta. On August 26, 1988, Suu Kyi delivers a speech declaring her support for the revolution. |
| September 24, 1988 | Suu Kyi becomes the Secretary-General of the National League for Democracy. On September 24, 1988, the National League for Democracy (NLD) forms, and Suu Kyi serves as the Secretary-General. The NLD pursues a policy of non-violence and civil disobedience, inspired by the campaigns of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Suu Kyi launches a tour of the country, giving speeches and calling for peaceful democratic reform. |
| July 20, 1989 | Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest. Having defied the military junta's prohibition on democratic speeches, Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest at her home in Yangon. The government claims she can go free if she agrees to leave the country, but she refuses to do so until the junta releases the country to a civilian government and frees political prisoners. She remains under house arrest until July 10, 1995. |
| May 27, 1990 | The NLD wins democratic elections. Despite Suu Kyi's imprisonment, her political party, the NLD, wins democratic elections by 82% on May 27, 1990. The military junta, however, refuses to acknowledge these results and remains in power. It formally annuls the results twenty years later. |
| October 14, 1991 | Suu Kyi receives the Nobel Peace Prize. In recognition of her peaceful protest for a democratic government, Suu Kyi receives a number of human rights awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Her sons, Alexander and Kim, accept the award on her behalf. |
| September 23, 2000 | Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest for the second time. Suu Kyi is released from house arrest in July 1995, and she continues to fight for democracy, founding a representative committee in 1998. Fearing travel restrictions, she is unable to visit her husband, who dies of cancer in March 1999. The military junta places her under house arrest for the second time on September 23, 2000, ostensibly for violating travel restrictions. She is released on May 6, 2002. |
| May 6, 2003 | Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest for the third time. After the NLD and pro-government demonstrators clash in 2003, Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest for the third time on May 6, 2003. The international community calls for her release throughout her imprisonment, and the government relaxes the conditions of her house arrest. However, shortly before her imprisonment ends, she is sentenced to a further 18 months, most likely to prevent her from participating in parliamentary elections. |
| April 1, 2012 | Suu Kyi wins a seat in parliament. In 2010 a series of election laws prohibit Suu Kyi from running, and the NLD refuses to register, leading to its being disbanded. The NLD re-registers as a political party in November 2011, and after an exhausting campaign, Suu Kyi wins a seat in parliament on April 1, 2012. Her party wins 43 of the 45 seats contested in the election. She formally takes office on May 2, 2012, becoming the leader of the opposition. |