Jump to content

Thant Myint-U

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In thisBurmese name,thegiven nameisThant Myint-U.There is no family name.
Thant Myint-U
သန့်မြင့်ဦး
Born(1966-01-31)31 January 1966(age 58)
New York City, New York,U.S.
Alma materHarvard University
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Johns Hopkins University
University of Cambridge
Known forHistorian
Conservationist (colonial architecture)
SpouseSofia Busch
ChildrenThurayn-Harri
Parent(s)Tyn Myint-U
Aye Aye Thant
RelativesU Thant(grandfather)
Khin Lay Myint-U (sister)
A-thi Myint-U (sister)
Aye Myint Myint-U (sister)
AwardsFukuoka Grand Prize
Padma Shri

Thant Myint-U(Burmese:သန့်မြင့်ဦး[θa̰ɰ̃mjɪ̰ɰ̃ʔú];born 31 January 1966) is aBurmese-Americanhistorian, writer, grandson of former United NationsSecretary-GeneralU Thant,former UN official, and former special advisor to the president for the peace process. He has authored five books, includingThe River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of BurmaandWhere China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia.[1][2][3]He founded theYangon Heritage Trustin 2012 to protect colonial architecture and lobby for urban planning in the Burmese commercial capital ofYangon.[4]He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Christ's College, Cambridge and United Nations Special Adviser on Humanitarian Diplomacy.[5][6]

Life and education

[edit]

Thant Myint-U was born inNew York CitytoBurmeseparents. He grew up inRiverdale, Bronxat the home of his maternal grandfather, the then-Secretary-General of the United Nations U Thant. From 1971 to 1980, he studied atRiverdale Country School,a private college-preparatory day school in Bronx.[7]He graduated fromInternational School Bangkokin 1983.[8]He has three sisters.[9]

Thant earned aB.A.in government and economics fromHarvard University,anMAin international relations and international economics fromJohns Hopkins University,and hisPhDin history fromCambridge Universityin 1996. From 1996 to 1999, he was a Fellow ofTrinity College, Cambridge,[10]where he taught history.[11][unreliable source?][self-published source?]

Career

[edit]

He served on three UN peacekeeping operations. He first served as a human rights officer from 1992 to 1993 at the UN Transitional Authority forCambodiainPhnom Penh.In 1994, he was the spokesman for theUN Protection Forcein the formerYugoslavia,based inSarajevo.In 1996, he was a political adviser in the Office of the UN's Special Representative forBosnia and Herzegovina.[12]

In 2000, he joined the UN Secretariat in New York. He worked first at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, then at theUnited Nations Department of Political Affairs,and at the Policy Planning Unit as a chief in 2004.[13]During this time, he was a member of the secretariat of the Secretary-General's Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (High Level Threat Panel).[14]From the late 2005 to early 2006, he was briefly a senior officer at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.[15]

Aside from being chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, he was, from 2011 to 2015, a member of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council,[16]special adviser to the Myanmar government for the peace process at theMyanmar Peace Centre,senior research fellow of the Myanmar Development Resources Institute, and member of the Fund Board of the (Myanmar) Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund.[17][18][19]

During a December 2019 book tour in the US, Thant expressed his forebodings about Myanmar's future. In an interview with Singapore'sThe Straits Times,Thant remarked that the threat ofclimate changemade him pessimistic about the country's future. "I think whatever we think of the [Myanmar's] ledger in general, perhaps it comes to 50/50," he said. "When you add on what is almost certainly going to be the impact of globalclimate change on Burma,I think it's hard to be too optimistic right now. "[20]

Works

[edit]

Thant has written opt-in pieces forThe New York Times,The Washington Post,theLos Angeles Times[21]theInternational Herald Tribune,theLondon Review of Books,[22]theNew Statesman,theFar Eastern Economic Review,Time[23]andThe Times Literary Supplement.His book,TheRiver of Lost Footstepswas on India's Monster and Critics' non-fiction bestsellers list for the fourth week of October 2007.[24]He was awarded the "Asia Pacific Awards" (Asian Affairs Research Council and Mainichi Newspapers) "Special Prize" in November 2014 forWhere China Meets India.[25]His latest book,The Hidden History of Burmawas released in November 2019.

  • Thant Myint-U (12 November 2019).The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century(1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-1324003298.[26]
  • Thant Myint-U (18 September 2018).Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia(1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-0374533526.
  • Thant Myint-U (8 January 2008).The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma(1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-0374531164.
  • Thant Myint-U; Scott, Amy (14 September 2007).The UN Secretariat: A Brief History.Lynne Rienner Publishers.ISBN978-0937722992.
  • Thant Myint-U (26 March 2001).The Making of Modern Burma(1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521799140.

Awards

[edit]

For his efforts to preserve Yangon's built heritage, he was named by theForeign Policymagazine as one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers" in its annual list in 2013.[27][28]He was voted 15th inProspectmagazine's annual online poll of the "World's Leading Thinkers" in 2014 in a list which feature many notable Indians includingKaushik Basu.[29]In 2015, he receivedFukuoka Prize,awarded by the city of Fukuoka.[30]In 2018, he receivedPadma Shri,the fourth-ranked civilian award in India.[31]

Personal life

[edit]

Thant is married to Sofia Busch.[32]He has a son, Thurayn Myint-U, born in 1999 to Hanna Styrmisdóttir, a granddaughter of Iceland's first female mayor,Hulda Jakobsdóttir.[33][34][35]

The pregnancy of Hanna Styrmisdóttir, who gave birth to Thurayn Myint-U in 1999at over age 50,caused a stir in Iceland. Her pregnancy not only highlighted the evolving societal attitudes towards age and parenthood but also underscored the unique intersection of personal choices and public fascination. This rare occurrence drew attention to the possibilities and considerations involved in late-in-life pregnancies, contributing to broader discussions about aging and reproductive health.[33]

Thant Myint-U gained Burmese citizenship in 2011 and is now a Myanmar national.[36]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Siddhartha Deb, "Where China Meets India",The Guardian,19 August 2011
  2. ^"Thant Myint-U, Amish Tripathi rule book charts".Hindustan Times.2011-09-29.Retrieved2023-02-28.
  3. ^John Lancaster, "Walled Off: Can Burma Escape Its History?",The New Yorker,11 December 2006
    Nicholas Shakespeare, "Burma: A Poisoned Shangri-la",The Sunday Telegraph,11 March 2007
    Su Lin Lewis, "Meteoric Fall",Times Literary Supplement,13 April 2007.
  4. ^"Historic Yangon cityscape thrown a lifeline".Mmtimes. Archived fromthe originalon 2 October 2013.Retrieved2 July2015.
  5. ^https:// christs.cam.ac.uk/news/christs-welcomes-three-distinguished-visiting-scholars
  6. ^https:// diis.dk/en/event/reimagining-the-united-nations-past-present-and-future
  7. ^"Thant Myint-U interview".thegreglowe.2008-03-11.Retrieved2020-05-28.
  8. ^Kayleigh."ISB Alumni Spotlight: Thant Myint-U".blog.isb.ac.th(in Thai).Retrieved2020-06-01.
  9. ^Myint-U, Thant.The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma(preface).
  10. ^Profile[permanent dead link],trin-webtest.trin.cam.ac.uk; accessed 2 July 2015.
  11. ^"Bio".Thant Myint-U.Retrieved2021-03-09.
  12. ^Thant Myint-U and Elizabeth Sellwood, "Knowledge and Multilateral Interventions: The UN's Experiences and Cambodia and Bosnia-Herzegovina", Royal Institute of International Affairs (2000)
  13. ^United Nations Department of Political Affairs website[permanent dead link];accessed 2 July 2015.
  14. ^"Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel".Un.org. Archived fromthe originalon December 3, 2004.Retrieved11 August2012.
  15. ^"Interview with Thant Myint-U by James S. Sutterlin".1998-07-01.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  16. ^"New govt advisory body takes shape".Mmtimes. Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2013.Retrieved11 August2012.
  17. ^"Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund".Lift-fund.net. Archived fromthe originalon 21 June 2012.Retrieved11 August2012.
  18. ^ProfileArchived2009-04-29 at theWayback Machine,ipacademy.org; accessed 2 July 2015.
  19. ^"CSEAS Seminar – Thant Myint-U – The Failure of International Policy Towards Burma".soas.ac.uk.Retrieved2017-10-21.
  20. ^Ghosh, Nirmal (9 December 2019)."Myanmar running out of time to cope with climate change, warns historian Thant Myint-U".The Straits Times.Retrieved9 December2019.
  21. ^Myint-U, Thant (14 October 2007)."Saving Burma the right way".Los Angeles Times.
  22. ^Thant Myint-U (8 February 2007)."What to do about Burma".London Review of Books.29(3): 31–33.Retrieved9 December2019.
  23. ^Myint-U, Thant (30 August 2007)."From Bad to Worse".Time.Archived fromthe originalon October 13, 2007.
  24. ^"Reader favourites this week: Thant Myint-U and Doris Lessing".Monsters and Critics. 25 October 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 1 May 2011.Retrieved2 July2015.
  25. ^"Thant Myint-U｜Laureates".Fukuoka Prize(in Japanese).Retrieved2017-10-21.
  26. ^Marston, Hunter; Kurlantzick, Joshua."A Review of" The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century "".Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).Asia Unbound.Retrieved9 December2019.
  27. ^Profile,Foreign Policy;accessed 2 July 2015.
  28. ^Profile,prospectmagazine.co.uk; accessed 2 July 2015.
  29. ^"World's Leading Thinkers",Prospect;accessed 2 July 2015.
  30. ^"Japan's Fukuoka Prize for Guha, Thant Myint-U".
  31. ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2018-01-26.Retrieved2018-01-25.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^Myint-U, Thant (2019-11-12).The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century.W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-1-324-00330-4.
  33. ^ab"Sigrún Finnbogadóttir".mbl.is(in Icelandic).Retrieved2020-05-26.
  34. ^Myint-U, Thant (2007-05-15).The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma.Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-0-374-70790-3.
  35. ^"Sigrún Finnbogadóttir er látin".DV(in Icelandic). 2016-03-16.Retrieved2021-11-23.
  36. ^"Amazon: Thant Myint-U: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle".amazon.Retrieved2016-03-21.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thant_Myint-U&oldid=1245291894"