Editing U Thant (section)

{{Short description|UN Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Burmese name|U}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Burmese names#Honorifics|U]]
| name                = Thant
| native_name         = {{nobold|သန့်}}
| native_name_lang    = my
| image               = U Thant (1963).jpg
| caption             = U Thant in 1963
| alt                 = Official portrait of U Thant with a UN flag in the background.
| order               = 3rd [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]]
| term_start          = 30 November 1961
| term_end            = 31 December 1971
| predecessor         = [[Dag Hammarskjöld]]
| successor           = [[Kurt Waldheim]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1909|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Pantanaw]], [[British rule in Burma|British Burma]]<br>(now Myanmar)
| death_date          = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1974|11|25|1909|01|22|df=y}}}}
| death_place         = New York City, U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Kandawmin Garden Mausolea]], [[Yangon]], Myanmar
| spouse              = {{marriage|Daw Thein Tin|1932}}
| children            = 3
| relations           = [[Thant Myint-U]] (grandson)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Rangoon]]
| party               = [[Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League|AFPFL]] (1947–1958)
| signature           = U Thant Signature.svg
}}
{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}

'''Thant''' ({{MYname|MY=သန့်|MLCTS=san.}} {{IPA|my|θa̰ɰ̃|}}; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as '''U Thant''' ({{IPAc-en|uː|_|θ|ɑː|n|t}}),{{efn|"[[Burmese names#Honorifics|U]]" is an [[honorific]] in [[Burmese language|Burmese]], roughly equal to "[[Mr.]]" "Thant" was his only name, per Burmese convention. In Burmese, he was known as '''Pantanaw U Thant''', in reference to his hometown, Pantanaw.}} was a Burmese diplomat and the third [[secretary-general of the United Nations]] from 1961 to 1971, the first non-[[Scandinavia]]n as well as Asian to hold the position. He held the office for a record 10 years and one month.{{efn|A total of 3,683 days, taking into account a one-month vacancy in November–December 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/uthant.shtml|title=U Thant &#124; United Nations Secretary-General|website=www.un.org|access-date=27 March 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315072337/https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/uthant.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

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 in various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961. Thant had a calm and unassuming demeanour that won his colleagues' respect.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=147}}

He succeeded [[James Barrington (diplomat)|James Barrington]] as Burma's [[Permanent Representative to the United Nations]]. He was appointed Secretary-General in 1961, six weeks after his predecessor, [[Dag Hammarskjöld]], had [[1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash|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]] of 1962, helping to avert a global catastrophe. Later, in December that year, Thant ordered [[Operation Grandslam]], which ended a secessionist insurgency in [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Congo]]. He was reappointed as Secretary-General on 2 December 1966, by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. During his second term Thant was well known for publicly criticizing U.S. conduct in the [[Vietnam War]]. He oversaw the entry of several newly independent African and Asian states into the UN. He refused to serve a third term, and retired in 1971.

Thant died of [[lung cancer]] in 1974. A devout [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and the foremost Burmese diplomat on the international stage, he was widely admired and held in great respect by the Burmese populace. When the military government refused him any honours, riots erupted in Rangoon; these were violently crushed by the government, leaving scores of casualties.