Mya Than Tint ( ; 23 May 1929 – 18 February 1998) was a five-time Myanmar National Literature Award winning Burmese writer and translator.

Biography

Born Mya Than on 23 May 1929 in

Myaing Myaing ( ) is a town and seat of Myaing Township in the Magway Region of central Myanmar. Transport It was connected to the Myanmar Railway network in 1998. See also * Transport in Myanmar References Township capitals of Myan ...

Pakokku Pakokku (, ) is the largest city in the Magway Region of Myanmar. It is situated about 30 km northeast of Bagan on the Irrawaddy River. It is the administration seat of Pakokku Township, Pakokku District and Gangaw District. Pakokku Bridge ...

Township,

Magway Division Magway Region (, ; formerly Magway Division) is an administrative division in central Myanmar. It is the second largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of . Pa-de Dam (ပဒဲဆည်) is one of the dams in Aunglan Township, Magway ...

Myanmar 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 has ...

, he was the eldest of seven children to Paw Tint and his wife Hlaing. Mya Than Tint entered

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 1948, the year Burma gained independence from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and received a degree in philosophy, political science and English literature in 1954. His writing career began in 1949 when his first short novel “Refugee” () was published in ''Tara'' () Magazine (No. 21, Vol. 3, 1949). His first translated work was Malva and other short stories by Gorky.He published many short and full-length novels, documentaries and translated works in his 50-year writing career. '' Dataung Ko Kyaw Ywei, Mee Pinle Ko Hpyat Myi'' (Across the Mountain of Swords and the Sea of Fire) () (1973) is considered to be his greatest masterpiece. He also wrote historical documentaries like “Breeze over Taungthaman Lake” (). Also a prolific translator of Western literature into Burmese, Mya Than Tint introduced his readers to world classics like ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' (), ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' (လေရူးသုန်သုန်), and ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...

'' (). He won the Myanmar National Literature Award five times for translation ''

''(1972), ''

'' (1978), ''

'' (1988), ''

City of Joy ''City of Joy'' () is a 1985 novel by Dominique Lapierre. It was adapted as City of Joy (1992 film), a film by Roland Joffé in 1992. Calcutta is nicknamed "the City of Joy" after this novel, although the slum was based on an area in its twin c ...

'' () (1992) and '' Beyond Love'' () (1995). As a political prisoner, Mya Than Tint was jailed from 1963 to 1972 by

Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...

's military regime that seized power from a democratic government in 1962. He was initially incarcerated in Rangoon's notorious

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 ...

, but later transferred with other political prisoners to the

Coco Islands 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 ...

penal colony in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

until his release three years later. At the age of 68, he died in his home in Sanchaung Township in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

of a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

after an accidental fall from a staircase in the early morning of February 18, 1998. He was cremated at the Hteinpin cemetery in Rangoon.

Literary works

Famous Burmese Novels by Mya Than Tint: *Myit-tar Athinchay-Infinite Love * '' Dataung Ko Kyaw Ywei, Mee Pinle Ko Hpyat Myi'' - Across the Mountain of Swords and the Sea of Fire (1973) * ''A-hmaung Yeik We'' - In the Dark Shadow (1960) * ''Annyattara Yoke Pon Hlwa ''- Images of Ordinary People * ''Like Hkedaw Mya Nanda'' - Run with me, Mya Nanda (1960) * ''Khit Pyaing Yoke Pon Hlwa '' - Images of Our Modern Era * ''Pondaung Ponnya Thwa Tawla '' - Travelogue of Pondaung Ponnya * ''Taungthaman Shwe Inn ga Lei-hnyin Sawdaw'' - Breeze over Taungthaman Lake (1999) * "The City of Joy" * "Than Chaung" * "Kankaung" * "Khuntaw Satye Chinthaw Wutthumyar" ( The Stories I wanna continue writing) * "Myanmar:The longest war" 2015 * "The Art of Writing" His collection of short stories ''Annyattara Yoke Pon Hlwa '' (Images of Ordinary People) has been translated in English titled '' On the Road to Mandalay''. , '' Dataung ko kyaw ywe, Mee Pinle ko phyat Mi'' (Across the Mountain of Swords and the Sea of Fire) book cover

Translations

Well Known Works of Translation into Burmese:

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

series into 5 Volumes - *''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which h ...

'' *''

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published late in 1893 with 1894 date. It was first published in the UK by G. Newnes Ltd., and was published in the US by Harper ...

'' *''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...

'' *'' His Last Bow'' *''

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' is the final set of twelve (out of a total of fifty-six) Sherlock Holmes short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' between October 1921 and April 1927. T ...

Quotes

*"Since my childhood, I have believed that writing is the most honourable job, and honour doesn’t mean material wealth, but honest and truthful dignity." * "I will not exchange my job as a writer for anything." * "I wouldn’t do now, I won’t do in the future."

References

External links

Book review: On the Road to Mandalay
Martin Morland, September 1996
On the Road to Mandalay: Tales of Ordinary People
Mya Than Tint
Controversial Novel Finally Cleared
The Back Page (June 2005), ''

The Irrawaddy ''The Irrawaddy'' () is a news website by the Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG), founded in 1990 by Burmese exiles living in Thailand. As a publication produced by former Burmese activists who fled violent crackdowns on anti-military protests in ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mya Than Tint 1929 births 1998 deaths People from Magway Division Burmese writers University of Yangon alumni Burmese prisoners and detainees Burmese translators