Aung San

Born Feb. 13, 1915, in Natmauk; died July 19, 1947, in Rangoon. Burmese political figure; a leader in the struggle for national independence. Born into the family of a lawyer.

Aung San became active in the anti-imperialist movement at Rangoon University, from which he graduated in 1937. He joined the Dobama Asi-ayon (We Burmans Association) in 1938 and soon became its secretary-general. He was one of the.founders of the Burmese Communist Party (August 1939) and was its first secretary-general (1939–40). After the outbreak of World War II, in conditions of intensified Anglo-Japanese disputes and military conflict in the Far East, Aung San joined the radical anti-British groups that thought that Burma could gain independence through cooperation with Japan. He took part in the training of commanders for the Burmese Army in Japan and in several countries under Japanese occupation. He returned to Burma after the Japanese invasion (1942) as chief of the Burma Independence Army. When Aung San realized that Japan’s actual aim was the enslavement of Burma, he and other patriots organized the Resistance Movement; at the same time, Aung San was officially a member of the pro-Japanese government and chief of the National Army. In August 1944 he became president of the underground organization Antifascist People’s Freedom League. In March 1945 he led the anti-Japanese uprising of the National Army, which was part of the national uprising against the Japanese occupation forces. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, Aung San was the head of the patriotic forces that opposed the British colonialists, who had returned to Burma. In September 1946 he joined the governor’s Executive Council and became vice-president of the council and counselor on defense and foreign relations. In January 1947, while conducting negotiations in London with the British government on granting independence to Burma, Aung San obtained an agreement to hold elections to a Burmese constituent assembly in April 1947. This assembly voted for the independence of Burma. From 1947 on, Aung San was the de facto head of the transitional government. He was active in drafting the constitution of independent Burma, in strengthening Burma’s sovereignty, in rallying its left-wing forces, and in drawing up plans for the country’s economic recovery and development. Aung San repeatedly supported the socialist development of Burma. Aung San and other members of the Executive Council were killed by U Saw’s reactionary political group. The Burmese people honor Aung San as a national hero.