San Yu ( my, စန်းယု, ; 3 March 1918 – 28 January 1996) was a Burmese army general and statesman who served as the fifth

president of Myanmar The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current preside ...

from 9 November 1981 to 27 July 1988.

Biography

San Yu, an

ethnic Chinese The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

, was born in Thegon during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. He was born to a Hakka Chinese father, U San Pe, and a Burmese mother, Daw Shwe Lai. He studied medicine at

Rangoon University '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

's Medical College for two years.

Military career

San Yu joined

Burma Independence Army The Burma Independence Army (BIA), was a collaborationist and revolutionary army that fought for the end of British rule in Burma by assisting the Japanese in their conquest of the country in 1942 during World War II. It was the first post-c ...

in 1942 from his hometown Prome (now

Pyay Pyay (, ; mnw, ပြန် , ; also known as Prome and Pyè) is principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Aye ...

) and became a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

of 3rd Burma Rifle

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

on 14 January 1946. Throughout his army career, San Yu rose through the rank quickly due to his steadfast loyalty towards his superiors. On 23 January 1947, San Yu was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and became deputy company commander in the same battalion and on 24 February 1949, three years after joining the army, he was promoted to the rank of Major and became Deputy Battalion Commander of 3rd Burma Rifle. He was made lieutenant colonel on 25 November 1949 and given the command of 1st Karenni Rifle Battalion. He was then transferred to 1st Kachin Rifle Battalion on 22 December 1950. Throughout 1950 and 1951, he served under

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

Ne Win Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...

's Northern Regional Military Command in various capacities. He was then transferred to Military Appointment General's office within the Ministry of Defense on 17 September 1952. On 9 March 1956, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and became the Commander of Northern Regional Military Command on 25 February 1959. He was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

on 9 April 1959. He then became commander of 1st Infantry Brigade on 16 August 1961, commander of Eastern Regional Military Command on 16 October 1961 and commander of North West Regional Military Command on 29 November 1961. After the 1962

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

San Yu became Deputy Chief of Staff of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

on 15 February 1963. He was promoted to the rank of general and became Commander in Chief of the Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) on 20 April 1972.

Civilian career

San Yu was a founding member of the General

's 17 members

Union Revolutionary Council The Union Revolutionary Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်တော်လှန်ရေးကောင်စီ), officially the Revolutionary Council of the Union of Burma ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာန ...

(RC) that came to power after the

overthrowing the civilian government of Prime Minister

U Nu Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...

on 2 March 1962. He was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

from 1963 to 1972. He was appointed as Chairman of the 'New State Constitution Drafting Commission' (NSCDC) which was formed by the Revolutionary Council on 25 September 1971. During the years 1971 to 1973, He travelled extensively throughout Burma as Chairman of NSCDC during the 'drafting process' of Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, better known as 1974 Burmese Constitution. On 20 April 1972, the

Revolutionary Council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

made an announcement that

San Yu was promoted to General.21-04-1972 The ''Working People's Daily'' newspaper General San Yu became general secretary of the Council of State for the Burma Socialist Programme Party, better known as BSPP, on 26 April 1974 was transferred to Office of the State Council. He retired from the Army on 3 March 1978. In the closing day of the Fourth Congress of the BSPP,

also announced his intention to retire from the position of 'President of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma' after the 'elections' in October 1981. On 9 November 1981 the then Burmese Legislature (''

Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw ( my, ပြည်သူ့ လွှတ်တော်, ; House of Representatives) is the ''de jure'' lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 440 members, of whic ...

'') elected San Yu as the President of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. He served in that position until 27 July 1988 and in the post-independence period he became, after Ne Win (who was president from 4 March 1974 to 9 November 1981) the second-longest serving president in post-independent Burma. Ne Win remained chairman of the BSPP, and it was generally understood that he still held the real power. In the fifth BSPP Congress that was held in August 1985 San Yu was formally elected as

vice chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of BSPP. From then on till his retirement from both the Party (BSPP) and State positions San Yu was termed in the media as Vice Chairman of Burma Socialist Programme Party, President and Chairman of the Council of State, under the provision of the 1974 Constitution the Chairman of the Council of State is also the President of the Republic. On 23 July 1988, in the opening day of the BSPP Congress, an announcement made by

that San Yu along with four other Party and State leaders had expressed the wish to retire from both Party and State positions. Though the BSPP Congress rejected the resignations or requests for permission to retire of U

Aye Ko Lieutenant General Aye Ko ( my, အေးကို, 19 September 1921 – 26 September 2006) was Burmese army captain and the former Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Union of Myanmar. He held the position of Vice President of Burma fo ...

, general secretary and Vice President of the State, U

Sein Lwin Sein Lwin ( my, စိန်လွင်, ; 27 January 1924 – 9 April 2004) was a Burmese politician and retired military general in the Myanmar Army. He was served as the sixth president of Burma for 17 days in 1988, following the resignation ...

, Joint General Secretary of BSPP and secretary of the Council of State, U

Tun Tin Thura U Tun Tin ( my, ထွန်းတင်, ; 2 October 1920 – 1 May 2020) was a Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1988 to 1990. Biography He was born in Myitkyina in October 1920. He graduated with a bachelor ...

, BSPP Central Executive Committee member and Deputy Prime Minister, U Kyaw Htin, BSPP Central Executive Committee Member and Defence Minister, the congress accepted the resignations of

and San Yu from party and state positions. After his retirement, throughout the turmoil that ensued the 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations and military coup, San Yu stayed out of the political societies and lived with his family in his suburban

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

home. He followed the path set by Buddhism and died peacefully on 28 January 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Yu People of Hakka descent Overseas Chinese Presidents Burma Socialist Programme Party politicians Burmese generals Burmese soldiers 1918 births 1996 deaths Burmese people of Chinese descent Burmese politicians of Chinese descent Presidents of Myanmar Finance ministers of Myanmar People from Bago Region Hakka generals Burmese collaborators with Imperial Japan