U Thant (22 January 1909-25 November 1974) was Secretary-General of the United Nations from 30 November 1961 to 31 December 1971, succeeding Dag Hammarskjold and preceding Kurt Waldheim.
Biography[]
U Thant was born in Patanaw, British India in 1909. He graduated from Rangoon University and became a schoolteacher in 1928, later serving as headmaster from 1931 to 1947. In 1948, he joined the Burmese Civill Service, serving at the Ministry of Information from 1948 to 1953. He then became secretary to the Prime Minister, U Nu, and in 1957 became Burma's permanent representative to the Uniited Nations. His achievements as UN Secretary-General included assistance in the resolution of a number of crises at the height of the Cold War, most notably the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. He also worked towards the admission of the communist People's Republic of China to full membership of the UN Security Council in 1971. He was involved in the formation of a UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus in 1964, and the negotiations for an armistice to end the Six-Day War. He retired in 1971, and he died of lung cancer in New York City in 1974 at the age of 65.
Gallery[]
