U Thant

Date of Birth: 22 January, 1909

Place of Birth: Pantanaw, Burma, British India (now Myanmar)

Date of Death: 25 November, 1974

Place of Death: New York City, New York, U.S.

Ethnicity: Burmese

U Thant was a Burmese diplomat. He served as the third Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 30 November, 1961 to 31 December, 1971.

He was the son of Po Hnit and Nan Thaung. His family were landowners and rice merchants. His father co-founded the Burma Research Society and the newspaper The Sun/Thuriya in Rangoon. His family were devoutly Buddhist. His siblings, Khant, Thaung, and Tin Maung, were politicians and scholars.

Secretary-General Thant is said to have had distant ancestors who were “from both India and China, Buddhists and Muslims, as well as Shans and Mons.”

Secretary-General Thant was married to Daw Thein Tin, until his death, with whom he had three children. His grandson by maternal line is historian and writer Thant Myint-U.

Source: Family history of U Thant – The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma, 2007, by Thant Myint-U