Khin Kyi

Maha Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi (; 16 April 1912 – 27 December 1988) was a Burmese politician and diplomat, best known for her marriage to the country's leader, Aung San, with whom she had four children, including Aung San Suu Kyi. She served as the Minister of Social Welfare and MP of the Pyithu Hluttaw for Lanmadaw Township.

Early life and career Khin Kyi was born on 16 April 1912 in Myaungmya during the British Raj to parents Pho Hnyin and Phwa Su. Although it is rumored that Khin Kyi herself was an ethnic Karen Christian, she was in fact a Buddhist of Bamar ancestry. Khin Kyi attended the American Baptist Mission-run Kemmendine Girls School (now Basic Education High School No. 1 Kyimyindaing) in Rangoon, and continued her tertiary education at the Teachers' Training College (TTC) in Moulmein. The couple wed in September of that year.

Political career She served as a member of parliament in the country's first post-independence government from 1947 to 1948, representing Rangoon's Lanmadaw Township, the constituency that her husband had won. In 1953, she was appointed as Burma's first Minister of Social Welfare.

Khin Kyi served as the various posts including director of the Burma Women's Association from 1947–1953, chair of the Social Welfare Planning Commission from 1953–1958, chair of the Union of Burma Social Welfare Council, chair of Mother and Child Welfare, chair of the Child Welfare Council, chair of Health and Public Affairs Committee, chair of the Union of Burma Women's Associations Council, chair of the Association for the Advancement of Democracy, chief scout of the Burma Women's Scout Association, administrator of the Myanmar Ambulance Service, and vice-chair of Ramakrishna Missionary Hospital and Library.

In 1953, following the death of her second oldest son, Aung San Lin, the family moved from their house on Tower Lane (now Bogyoke Museum Lane), near Kandawgyi Lake, to a colonial-era villa by the shores of Inya Lake, on University Avenue Road. Their former house was converted to the Bogyoke Aung San Museum in 1962.

In 1960, Khin Kyi was appointed as Burma's Ambassador to India, and became the country's first woman to serve as the head of a diplomatic mission.

Death

She died in Rangoon on 27 December 1988, at the age of 76, after suffering a severe stroke. Her funeral, held on 2 January 1989, was attended by over 200,000 people, despite the presence of military trucks which intervened to try to prevent this gathering. She is buried at Kandawmin Garden Mausolea on Shwedagon Pagoda Road in Yangon.

In 2012, her daughter Aung San Suu Kyi founded the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation. It is named in her honour. It works to improve the education, health and welfare of the people of Myanmar.

Family

She married Aung San on 7 September 1942. The pair had four children, 2 sons: Aung San Oo and Aung San Lin (who died by drowning at the age of 8) and 2 daughters: Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung San Chit, who died after delivery.