Burma / Myanmar: U Thant (1909-1974), 3rd Secretary-General to the United Nations (1961-1971) at Schiphol...

U Thant ( January 22, 1909 -November 25, 1974) was a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. A native of Pantanaw, Thant was educated at the National High School and at Rangoon University. In the days of tense political climate in Burma, he held moderate views positioning himself between fervent nationalists and British loyalists. He was a close friend of Burma's first Prime Minister U Nu and served various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961. He was appointed as Secretary-General in 1961 when his predecessor, Dag Hammarskjöld died in an air crash. In his first term, Thant facilitated negotiations between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis, thereby narrowly averting the possibility of a global catastrophe. In December 1962, Thant ordered the Operation Grand Slam which ended secessionist insurgency in Congo. He was reappointed as Secretary-General on 2nd December 1966 by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. In his second term, Thant was well-known for publicly criticizing American conduct in the Vietnam War. He oversaw the entry of several newly independent African and Asian states into UN. Thant refused to serve a third term and retired in 1971. Thant died of lung cancer in 1974. A devout Buddhist and the foremost Burmese diplomat who served on the international stage, Thant was widely admired and held in great respect by the Burmese populace. When the military government refused him any honors, riots broke out in Rangoon. But they were violently crushed by the government, leaving tens of casualties. Editor: Jac De Nijs