Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations
1909 CE
to 1974 CE
Thant (January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant, is a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position.
He holds the office for a record ten years and one month (3,683 days) (taking into account a one-month vacancy in November–December 1966).
A native of Pantanaw, Thant is educated at the National High School and at Rangoon University
In the days of tense political climate in Burma, he holds moderate views positioning himself between fervent nationalists and British loyalists.
He is a close friend of Burma's first Prime Minister U Nu and serves in various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961.
Thant has a calm and unassuming demeanor that wins his colleagues' respect.
He is appointed as Secretary-General in 1961, six weeks after his predecessor Dag Hammarskjöld dies in an air crash
In his first term, Thant facilitates negotiations between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, helping to avert a global catastrophe
Later, in December of this year, Thant ordersOperation Grandslam, which ends a secessionist insurgency in Congo.
He is reappointed as Secretary-General on December 2, 1966, by a unanimous vote of the Security Council.
During his second term Thant is well known for publicly criticizing American conduct in the Vietnam War.
He oversees the entry of several newly independent African and Asian states into the UN.
He refuses to serve a third term, and retires in 1971.
Thant dies of lung cancer in 1974.
A devout Buddhist and the foremost Burmese diplomat on the international stage, he was widely admired and held in great respect by the Burmese populace.
When the military government refuses him any honors, riots break out in Rangoon; these are violently crushed by the government, leaving scores of casualties.
