Aung San Suu Kyi, born in 1945 in Rangoon, Burma, is the daughter of General Aung San, who was known as the "Father of Burmese Independence". In 1960 she went to India with her mother, Daw Khin Kyi, who was the first Burmese Ambassador to India. After graduating from high school, she studied temporarily in Lady Sri Ram College in New Delhi, then went to England and enrolled in Oxford University. After graduation, she worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York from 1969 to 1971. In 1972 she married Dr. Michael Aris, a researcher on Himalayan culture, whom she had met at university. Following their marriage, she lived in Bhutan, Nepal. In 1973, she gave birth to their first son, Alexander; in 1977, their second son, Kim. From 1985 to 1986 she lived in Japan as a guest researcher in the Center of Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. Living in Shugakuin, Sakyo-ku, her family became familiar with the surroundings of Kyoto Seika University.

In March 1988, she returned to Burma to take care of her sick mother, the country then being in the midst of a movement for democracy. On July 20th, the national newspaper published a photograph of her taking part in her father's memorial service, held by the govenment on the previous day. Discovering that she had returned to the country, the Burmese people asked her to join the democratic movement, as the daughter of the "Father of Burmese Independence." On August 26th, she made her first public political speech in front of 500,000 citizens at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. On September 27th she helped found the National League for Democracy (NLD).

In 1989 she was placed under house arrest for 6 years. The NLD received over 80 percent of seats in elections held in May 1990. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As of November 1998, the National Congress based on the results of Burma's 1990 elections has not yet been convened.