The following slide show highlights significant moments in the public life of Burmese pro-democracy Aung San Suu Kyi’s since her release from house arrest on November 13, 2010.
Aung San Suu Kyi published her first article in the local media in 23 years, a front page story for Pyithu Khit News Journal (left), 75% of which was censored. The Messenger News also ran an exclusive interview with the Nobel Laureate as its cover story on September 5.
Aung San Suu Kyi takes part in a ceremony at the Sadu Monastery in Rangoon, marking the 23rd anniversary of the "8888" pro-democracy uprising. Photo: Mizzima
Burma's Labor and Social Welfare Minister Aung Kyi met Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon. He read a statement to journalists after their meeting and said they both viewed the discussion positively and that they would meet again. Photo: Mizzima
For the first time in nine years, Aung San Suu Kyi attended an official ceremony for Martyr's Day, a national holiday in Burma that commemorates the assassination in 1947 of her father Gen Aung San and eight colleagues from the country's independence movement. Photo: Reuters
Aung San Suu Kyi travels to the ancient city of Bagan. It was her first trip outside Rangoon since her release last November. Photo: Demo Waiyan, Mizzima
Burman's government has warned Aung San Suu Kyi and her party to halt all political activities. Minister of Home Affairs Lt-Gen Ko Ko sent this letter to Suu Kyi that the party should form a social organization if it wants to engage in social affairs. Photo: Newlight of Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi's 66th birthday party, the first birthday party in nine years that she was able to mark freely with friends, family and supporters. Photo: Kyaw Thu
Aung San Suu Kyi meets with U.S. Senator John McCain at her home in Yangon. She has been meeting with several international leaders since her release. Photo: globalchin.org
Michell Yeoh (right) portrays Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson's The Lady, a biopic that tells the poignant love story of one of the world's most prominent prisoners of conscience. Photo: theaustralian.com.au
Aung San Suu Kyi addresses participants of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: irrawaddy.org
Kim Aris flew into Yangon after being granted a visa by the military regime. Suu Kyi cried with joy when she was reunited with her son, who she last saw a decade ago. Photo: globalchin.org
"If we want to get what we want, we have to do it in the right way," said Suu Kyi in her first public speech after her release. "Please do not give up hope. There is no reason to lose heart."
Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at National League for Democracy headquarters November 14, 2010 in Yangon, Burma. Photo: rowleyplace.net
Just released from house arrest, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi greets crowds of well-wishers at the gate of her house on November 13, 2010 in Yangon, Burma. Photo: voaburmese.wordpress.com
A Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament in 1990 general election. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her release on 13 November 2010.
“The universal human aspiration to be free has been brought home to us by recent developments in the Middle East. The Burmese are as excited by these events are as people elsewhere”
– Aung San Suu Kyi, BBC radio interview (June 28th 2011)
Aung San Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the Government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country, one of only five people ever to receive the honor. Aung San Suu Kyi is the third child and only daughter of Aung San, considered to be the father of modern-day Burma.
