Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999) was a British historian who wrote and lectured on

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

ese,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an, and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

, who would later become

State Counsellor of Myanmar The State Counsellor of Myanmar () was the ''de facto'' head of government of Myanmar, equivalent to a prime minister, from 2016 to 2021. The office was created in 2016 after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 2015 Myanmar ...

Life

Aris was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

officer John Arundel Aris and Josette, daughter of Emile Vaillancourt, Canadian Ambassador to Cuba.Gutchow, Kim. 'Michael Aris: In memoriam'. ''Ladakh Studies'' 12 (Autumn 1999), pp. 18–20. He was educated at Worth School in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, and read modern history at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where he was a member of St Cuthbert's Society. After graduating in 1967, he spent six years as a private tutor to the children of the Bhutanese royal family. In 1976, Aris moved on to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and became a junior research fellow and a member of the university faculty at St John's College. In 1978, he obtained a Ph.D. in Tibetan literature from

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

(School of Oriental and African Studies). Later at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

, he became a senior research fellow at the

Asian Studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...

Centre. In the last years before his death, he helped establish a specialist Tibetan and Himalayan studies centre at Oxford. Michael Aris's identical twin brother, Anthony Aris, similarly became a scholar of Tibetan studies, and founded ''Serindia Publications'' to focus on bringing Tibetan history and culture to modern audiences.

Relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi

Having met at university, Aris and

were married in a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

ceremony in 1972. After spending a year in Bhutan, they settled in North Oxford, where they raised their two sons, Alexander Aris and Kim Aris. During this time, Aris pursued his postgraduate studies at SOAS and obtained a PhD in Tibetan literature in 1978. In 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to

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 ...

, at first to care for her mother, but later to lead the country's pro-democracy movement. St John's College provided Aris with an extended leave of absence as a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

on full

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

so that he could lobby for his wife's cause. In 1997, Aris was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

which was later found to be terminal. Several countries, prominent individuals and organisations – including the United States government, UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

– made appeals to the Burmese authorities to issue a visa for Aris. The Burmese government however refused this request, claiming a lack of adequate healthcare facilities and instead urging Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. Although Suu Kyi was at the time temporarily relieved from

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

, she was unwilling to depart. Not trusting the junta's assurances, she feared her re-entry would be refused upon her return. In the ten years following his wife's first house arrest in 1989, Aris would only see Suu Kyi another five times before his death in 1999. Their last meeting took place at Christmas 1995, when Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest.

Death

Aris died of prostate cancer on his 53rd birthday in 1999, in Oxford.

Publications

* ''Freedom from Fear and Other Writings: Revised Edition'' (Paperback) by Aung San Suu Kyi (Author), Václav Havel (Foreword), Desmond M. Tutu (Foreword), Michael Aris (Editor). Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Sub edition (1 March 1996). . * ''Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hugh Richardson''. Edited by Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi. Preface by Michael Aris. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi. * "Notes on the History of the Mon-yul Corridor." In: * ''Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson'', pp. 9–20. Edited by Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi. * ''Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives: A Study of Pemalingpa (1450–1521) and the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) (1450–1521 and the Sixth Dalai Lama).'' Kegan Paul; 1st edition (May 1989). . * ''The Raven Crown: The Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan (Hardcover).'' Serindia Publications (1 October 2005). . * ''Lamas, Princes, and Brigands: Joseph Rock's Photographs of the Tibetan Borderlands of China''. Joseph F. Rock (Author), Michael Aris (Editor). 1st edition 1982. Reprint: China House Gallery. China Institute in America (June 1992). . * ''Bhutan, the Early History of a Himalayan Kingdom''. (Aris & Phillips Central Asian Studies) (Paperback). Aris & Phillips (May 1979). . * ''Views of Medieval Bhutan: The Diary and Drawings of Samuel Davis 1783'' (Hardcover). Roli Books International (1982). * ''High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture'' (Paperback) by Hugh Richardson (Author), Michael Aris (Author). Serindia Publications (October 1998). . * ''Ceremonies of the Lhasa Year (Heritage of Tibet)'' (Paperback) by Hugh Richardson (Author), Michael Aris (Editor). Serindia Publications (June 1994). . * ''Sources for the history of Bhutan'' (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde) (Unknown Binding). Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien (1986). * ''Tibetan studies and resources in Oxford''. (6 pages only – unknown publisher and binding)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aris, Michael 1946 births 1999 deaths 20th-century British historians Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham Aung San Suu Kyi British people of Canadian descent Deaths from prostate cancer in England English twins Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Identical twins People educated at Worth School Tibetologists Writers from Havana Himalayan studies