Thant, U

   (1909-1974)

   Serving as secretary general of the United Nations, U Thant was arguably the best-known Burmese on the international stage until Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. A close associate of U Nu, he served as minister of information in his cabinet from 1948 to 1953 and became the prime minister's secretary from 1954 to 1957. In the latter year, he was appointed Burma's ambassador to the United Nations, where he was secretary general from 1961 to 1971. Following his death in November 1974, his remains were taken back to Rangoon (Yangon). President Ne Win's refusal to give U Thant the honor of a state funeral (because of his closeness to U Nu, who had led the Parliamentary Democracy Party insurgency on the Thai-Burma border until 1973) aroused major antigovernment demonstrations, the U Thant Incident of December 1974.