Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Daw Aung Sawn Sue Chee) served as the figurehead for Burma's struggle for democracy since 1988, and is one of the world's most renowned freedom fighters and advocates of non-violence. Born on June 19 1945 to Burma's independence hero, Aung San, Suu Kyi was educated in Burma, India, and the United Kingdom. Her father was assassinated when she was only two years old.
In 1988, she returned to Burma to nurse her dying mother, and was plunged into the nationwide uprising that had just begun. Joining the newly-forming National League for Democracy political party, Suu Kyi gave numerous speeches calling for freedom and democracy. The military regime responded to the uprising with brute force, shooting and killing up to 10,000 demonstrators – including students, women, and children – in a matter of months. Unable to maintain its grip on power, the regime was forced to call for a general election in 1990. More