Timeline: the life of Aung San Suu Kyi

In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy (NLD) to an historic election victory over the country's ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

Even though Aung San Suu Kyi is barred by an army-drafted constitution from taking the presidency, she holds the office of state counsellor and acts as a leadership figure for Myanmar.

Suu Kyi has long been an international symbol of peaceful resistance, after spending 15 years under house arrest. Back in 2011, she addressed participants at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Speaking on “behalf of the 55 million people of Burma who have for the most part been left behind”, she said her country yearned to be part of the global community and take hold of the opportunities so far “missed because of political conflicts in our country over the last 50 years”.

Suu Kyi said her country’s development had lagged far behind its neighbours. “The young people of Burma need the kind of education that has enabled Young Global Leaders, some of whom are present at this gathering, to excel so early in their careers,” she said.

More recently, at the World Economic Forum on East Asia meeting that took place in Myanmar in June 2013, Suu Kyi addressed participants in a session titled Taking Myanmar to Work, where she expressed her desire to see a more open and democratic Myanmar:

Below you’ll find the key political moments in the life of Aung San Suu Kyi:

19 June 1945: Born in Rangoon, daughter of General Aung San, commander of the Burma Independence Army, and Khin Kyi, a nurse.

July 1947: Suu Kyi’s father is assassinated, and her mother dedicates herself to public affairs, heading social planning and policy bodies.

1964-1967: She studies politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, where she meets her husband, Michael Aris.

1969-1971: She continues her studies in New York, but postpones her studies to work for the United Nations.

April 1988: She returns to Rangoon to look after her sick mother.

8 August 1988: The military suppresses a mass uprising in Burma, with thousands of casualties.

26 August 1988: Suu Kyi makes her first public speech in front of a crowd of 150,000, making a call for a democratic government in Burma.

18 September 1988: The army takes control of Burma.

27 September 1988: Suu Kyi co-founds the National League for Democracy (NLD), becoming the party’s general secretary.

July 1989: Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest.

May 1990: NDL wins by a landslide election victory. The Junta refuses to recognize the results.

October 1991: Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

1995: She is released from house arrest but her movements are restricted.

27 March 1999: Her husband, Michael Aris, dies of cancer. She hadn’t seen him in four years.

September 2000: Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest after attempting to visit the city of Mandalay.

May 2002: She is released from house arrest, two years later.

May 2003: Following a violent clash between NLD and Junta supporters, Suu Kyi is once again imprisoned.

September 2003: She is allowed to go home, but remains under house arrest.

7 November 2010: Myanmar holds its first elections in 20 years. The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development party wins by a large majority.

13 November 2010: The new government releases Suu Kyi from house arrest. She and her party rejoin the political process after the new government embarks on a process of reform.

1 April 2012: Suu Kyi stands for parliament in a by-election. She and the NLD candidates win by a landslide victory.

2 May 2012: Suu Kyi is sworn into parliament, something unimaginable before the 2010 polls.

8 November 2015: The country’s ruling party, the USDP (or Union Solidarity and Development Party), conceded defeat to the opposition, the NLD (or National League for Democracy) led by Aung San Suu Kyi. NLD won 80% of all electable positions during a general election, with the military reserving a quarter of total seats.

1 February 2016: For the first time, Suu Kyi and hundreds of National League for Democracy MPs sit as a majority in parliament.

15 March 2016: Burma's parliament elects Htin Kyaw, a close friend and confidant of Suu Kyi, as president. He is the first head of state who has not come from a military background since the 1960s.

22 March 2016: Suu Kyi is nominated to join Myanmar's new cabinet when it takes power in April. It is believed that she will lead four ministries: minister of the president’s office, foreign affairs, electric power and energy, and education.

30 March 2016: Kyaw is sworn in as Myanmar's first elected civilian leader in over 50 years.

17 August 2016: Suu Kyi undertakes her first foreign trip as leader to a major power, visiting China.