''Ludu'' Sein Win (; 13 August 1940 – 17 June 2012) was a Burmese writer,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and teacher. He is known for his freely writings about social activities and against government through his works. He was recorded as the most writable person in the scenes of Myanmar writers in late 2008.

Personal life

Born from U Thar Din and Daw Kyi Khin in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. After finishing high school from Lafor Memorial High School, he went to

Mandalay University Mandalay University (also translated as University of Mandalay; ) is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities under Ministry of Education (Myanmar), Ministry of Ed ...

in 1956 and then, moved to

Rangoon University The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

in 1959. While attending the university, he started as a free journalist. In 1964, he worked as a formal journalist in the ''Ludu Newspaper'' (The People), Mandalay, Myanmar. In 1967, the Burmese military regime imprisoned U Sein Win and also three editors (U Tin Maung Lay, U Mya Nyunt and U Tin Shein) from ''Ludu Newspaper'' (The People), banned in July 1967. He was jailed in

Coco Island The Coco Islands () are a small group of islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. They are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar since 1937. The islands are located south of the city of Yangon. Coco Island group consists of five islands: four ...

until 1971 and then, placed to

Insein Prison Insein Prison () is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 ...

. He was arrested again in 1978 after his release in 1973. When he was in Insein prison, his right side of body was failed to mobile because of suffering a stroke. Incapable of writing by the right hand, he practiced by the left hand. After releasing in 1980, he opened an English centre at his home from 1982 to 2000 being as an English teacher.

Career

U Sein Win used 15 different pen names. His first published book is ''Soe moe kham'' (ေစာမုုိးခမ္း) and ''Taung Vietnam mah nga ye khan myar'' (ေတာင္ဗီယက္နမ္မွငရဲခန္းမ်ား) - ''From Mainland Hell to Island Hell'' was his first translation book. The book which had never been published before is the translation of ''Peking Diary'' by

Derk Bodde Derk Bodde (March 9, 1909November 3, 2003) was an American sinologist and historian of China known for his pioneering work on the history of the Chinese legal system. Bodde received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1930. He ...

. That book was recently published and sold in April 2013 after he died.

Final years

He turned his writing topic to youth, journalism, ethics and love besides his politics writing which were contributed to ''

Weekly Eleven ''Weekly Eleven'' is a weekly newspaper published in Myanmar (Burma). It is one of the five weekly journals published by Eleven Media Group which was founded in June 2000. It is focused on general local news and some sports and international new ...

Journal''. Since 2004, he had been aided by oxygen to his breathing because of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He died on 17 June 2012. He continued writing till before he died. The article he did not finish is ''Pyan Lar Pyi Byout'' (I Am Back!). He wrote at least two articles daily to resist the government through writing.

Legacy

The

Ludu Library The Ludu Library and Archive () is a public library and newspaper archive in Letsekan quarter, Chanayethazan Township, Mandalay, Myanmar. Construction began in 2000, and the library was formally founded in 2004 by the family of Ludu U Hla and his ...

houses a complete collection of Sein Win's works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sein Win, Ludu 1940 births 2012 deaths Burmese writers Burmese journalists Burmese activists University of Yangon alumni