U Thant
Diplomat, Politician
1909 – 1974
Who was U Thant?
U Thant was a Burmese diplomat and served as the third Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He was chosen for the post when his predecessor, Dag Hammarskjöld, died in September 1961. One of his most noteworthy accomplishments during his tenure as Secretary General was his valuable assistance in facilitating the 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 major global catastrophe.
"U" is an honorific in Burmese, roughly equal to "Mr". "Thant" was his only name, per Burmese convention. In Burmese, he was known as Pantanaw U Thant, given that his home town was Pantanaw.
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- Born
- Jan 22, 1909
Pantanaw - Parents
- Religion
- Buddhism
- Nationality
- Myanmar
- Profession
- Education
- Yangon University
- Employment
- Secretary-General of the United Nations
(1961/11/30 - 1971/12/31)
- Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Died
- Nov 25, 1974
New York City
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"U Thant." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/u_thant>.
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