U Nu
U Nu (Burmese: ဦးနု; pronounced: [ʔú nṵ]; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995) was the first Prime Minister of Burma. He served from 4 January 1948 to 12 June 1956, again from 28 February 1957 to 28 October 1958, and finally from 4 April 1960 to 2 March 1962.
Nu နု | |
|---|---|
| File:U Nu portrait.jpg | |
| Prime Minister of Burma | |
| In office 4 January 1948 – 12 June 1956 | |
| President | Sao Shwe Thaik Ba U |
| Succeeded by | Ba Swe |
| In office 28 February 1957 – 28 October 1958 | |
| President | Ba U |
| Preceded by | Ba Swe |
| Succeeded by | Ne Win |
| In office 4 April 1960 – 2 March 1962 | |
| President | Win Maung |
| Preceded by | Ne Win |
| Succeeded by | Ne Win |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 May 1907 Wakema, Myaungmya District, British Burma |
| Died | 14 February 1995 (aged 87) Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar |
| Political party | Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League |
| Alma mater | University of Rangoon |
Burma gained independence from Britain on 4 January 1948. Nu became the first prime minister of the new country. He quit being prime minister in 1956. He again served as prime minister between Ba Swe and Ne Win.
Nu was one of the leaders of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) from 1942 to 1963. The AFPFL had two groups of power. Nu's group won the 1960 election. He then became prime minister. On 2 March 1962 General Ne Win took control of the government. Nu was then kept in an army camp. Nu continued to claim he was the legal prime minister. In 1988 he tried to form his own government with Win Maung as president.
Nu wrote an autobiography called Ta-Tei Sanei Tha (Naughty Saturday-born). It was published in India by Irrawaddy Publishing (U Maw Thiri) in 1975. He wrote several other books including The People Win Through (1951), Burma under the Japanese (1954), An Asian Speaks (1955), and Burma Looks Ahead (1951).
Religion
U Nu was a popular spiritual leader of his country. During the 1960 election he promised to make Buddhism the official state religion. On 29 August 1961, Parliament passed a law making Buddhism the state religion.[1] Ne Win removed the law in 1962.
U Nu Media
Mahatma Gandhi with Thakin Nu, Premier of Burma, at Birla House, Delhi, December 4, 1947
U Nu with Moshe Dayan during his visit to Israel in 1955
U Nu with Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev (far left with floral lei) and Nikolai Bulganin (right with floral lei) in Rangoon, December 1955
U Nu in Bandung, Indonesia for the 1955 Asian–African Conference
U Nu in January 1962, less than 2 weeks before the second military coup
U Nu paying obeisance to the Buddha in 1961 ceremonies marking Vesak.
Mya Yi, wife of the premier of Burma U Nu (ဦးနု), ca. 1955.
References
- ↑ Sahliyeh, Emile F. (1990). Religious resurgence and politics in the contemporary world. SUNY Press. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0-7914-0382-2.