Brigadier General Sein Win (, ; 19 March 1919 – 29 June 1993) was a Burmese military officer who fought along with the legendary ''

Thirty Comrades The Thirty Comrades () constituted the embryo of the modern Burmese army called the Burma Independence Army (BIA) which was formed to fight for independence from Britain. This was accomplished just before the majority of the Thirty Comrades retu ...

'' in the struggle for independence from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. He later held various positions in the government of Burma from 1962 to 1977 and served as

Prime Minister of Burma The prime minister of Myanmar () is the head of government of Myanmar. The post was re-established in 2021 by the State Administration Council (SAC), the country's ruling military junta, to lead its nominally-civilian provisional government. T ...

(now Myanmar).

Early life

Sein Win was born in Danyingon, Moulmein (now

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancient ...

), then under British Raj Burma on 19 March 1919 as the son of Thin Myaing and Pwe Kyu. He was educated in Pyon Yin School, National Middle School, and Government High School in Tavoy (now

Dawei Dawei (, ; , ; , RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the eastern bank of the Dawei River. The city is about ...

Student activist

In 1938, he moved back from Tavoy to Moulmein to study at Shin Maha Buddhaghosa National School (now BEHS 9 Mawlamyine). The Great General Strike of 1938, known as ''Htaung thoun ya byei Ayeidawbon'' (the " Revolution of 1300" named after the

Burmese calendar The Burmese calendar (, , or , ; Burmese Era (BE) or Myanmar Era (ME)) is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar is largely based on an older version of the Hind ...

year), saw him as one of the district committee members of student protesters at Kyaikthanan picketing the colonial government. In that year, he passed matriculation exam from Shin Maha Buddhaghosa National School and in 1940 he attended Police Officer Training in Mandalay.

Freedom fighter

After successful completion of police officer training, he worked as a cadet police officer for some time. In early 1942, he joined the Burma Independence Army (BIA) when the fifth unit of BIA led by

Bo Let Ya Bo Let Ya (; ; born Hla Pe ; ; 30 August 1911 – 29 November 1978) was a Burmese army general and a member of the legendary Thirty Comrades who fought for Burma's independence from Britain. He also served as the 2nd Commander-in-chief of the A ...

entered Burma from Thai-Burma border. In March 1945, right before Japanese revolution, he was promoted to the rank of major by General

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947), known honorifically as '' Bogyoke'' Aung San, was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he w ...

. Under General Aung San's command, he participated in

Burma campaign 1944–45 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 ...

Army career

He then worked in the army up to the post of the commander at the Southeastern Military Command with the rank of Brigadier General. In 1962, after

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 coup, he became a member of the '' Revolutionary Council of Burma'' through which Ne Win ruled Burma.

Prime minister

In 1964, he became ''Minister for Construction and Public Work'' in Ne Win's administration. In 1971, he also chaired the

Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...

's Party Inspection Committee. On 20 April 1972, Sein Win retired from army. In 1974, he became Prime Minister of the ''

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma , conventional_long_name = Socialist Republic ofthe Union of Burma , common_name = Burma , status = , status_text = , p1 = Union of Burma (1948–1962)Union of Burma , flag_p1 ...

''. In 1977, he was blamed for the economic problems of the country and dismissed from office by President Ne Win. He then became a State Councillor of Burma, a position from which he retired in 1985.

Family

In 1943, he married Mya Shwe, daughter of Captain Ba Pe and Daw Mone. The couple had seven children, one of whom died in infancy.

References

1919 births 1993 deaths People from Mawlamyine Burma Socialist Programme Party politicians Government ministers of Myanmar Burmese generals Recipients of the Thiri Pyanchi {{Burma-bio-stub