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U Thant
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== Early life == [[File:U Thant in 1927.PNG|thumb|Thant as a [[Rangoon University]] student in 1927|alt=]] Thant, the eldest of four sons, was born in [[Pantanaw]], [[Colonial Burma]], to a moderately-wealthy family of landowners and rice merchants. His father Po Hnit, who had been educated in [[Calcutta]], was the only person in the town who could communicate well in English.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=29}} He was a founding member of the [[Burma Research Society]] and had helped establish ''[[The Sun (Rangoon)|The Sun]]'' (''Thuriya'') newspaper in Rangoon.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=29}}<ref name="mm">{{cite book |title=Dr. Maung Maung: Gentleman, Scholar, Patriot |url=https://archive.org/details/drmaungmaunggent00tayl |url-access=limited |editor=Robert H. Taylor |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2008 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drmaungmaunggent00tayl/page/n226 211]β212 |isbn=978-981-230-409-4}}</ref> Although his family members were ethnic [[Bamar people|Bamars]] and devout [[Buddhist]]s, Thant's father, according to [[Thant Myint-U]] (U Thant's grandson), had distant ancestors who were "people from both India and China, Buddhists and Muslims, as well as Shans and Mons".<ref>{{cite book |title=Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroad of Asia |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |author=Thant Myint-U |year=2011 |location=New York |pages=76 |isbn=978-0-374-98408-3 |author-link=Thant Myint-U}}</ref> He hoped that all his four sons would each earn a degree.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=32}} His other sons, Khant, Thaung, and Tin Maung went on to become politicians and scholars.<ref name="mm"/> Po Hnit had collected a personal library of various American and British books and cultivated a reading habit among his children. As a result, Thant became an avid reader and his school friends nicknamed him "The Philosopher".{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=144}} Apart from reading, he enjoyed various sports including hiking, swimming and playing [[chinlone]].{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=33}} He went to the National High School in Pantanaw. At the age of eleven Thant participated in strikes against the University Act of 1920. He dreamed of becoming a journalist and surprised the family by writing an article for the ''[[Union of Burma Boy Scouts]]'' magazine. When Thant was fourteen, his father died and a series of inheritance disputes forced Thant's mother, Nan Thaung, and her four children into difficult financial times.<ref>Franda, Marcus F. (2006). ''The United Nations in the 21st century: management and reform processes in a troubled organization''. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 53. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5334-7}}.</ref> After the death of his father, Thant believed he would not be able to complete a four-year degree and instead worked for a two-year teaching certificate at Rangoon University in 1926. As the eldest son he had to fulfill his filial duties and responsibilities to the family. At university, Thant, together with future [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|Prime Minister]] Nu studied history under [[D. G. E. Hall]]. Nu was told by a distant mutual relative to take care of Thant and the two soon became close friends.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=88}} Thant was elected joint secretary of the University Philosophical Association and secretary of the Literary and Debating Society.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=89}} In Rangoon, Thant met [[John Sydenham Furnivall|J.S. Furnivall]], the founder of The Burma Book Club and ''[[The World of Books]]'' magazine, to which Thant regularly contributed. Promising a good post, Furnivall urged Thant to complete a four-year university course and join the Civil Service, but Thant refused.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=93}} After earning the certificate, he returned to Pantanaw to teach at the National High School as a senior teacher in 1928. He contacted Furnivall and Nu regularly, writing articles and participating in ''The World of Books'' translation competitions.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=94}} In 1931, Thant won first place in All Burma Teachership Examination and became the school's headmaster by the age of twenty-five.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=97}}{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}} Urged by Thant, his friend Nu took the local superintendent of schools position. Thant regularly contributed to several newspapers and magazines under the pen name "Thilawa" and translated a number of books, including one on the [[League of Nations]].<ref>Naing, Saw Yan (22 January 2009). [http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14975 Remembering U Thant and His Achievements] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328084801/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14975 |date=28 March 2012 }}. ''[[The Irrawaddy]]''.</ref> His major influences were Sir [[Stafford Cripps]], [[Sun Yat-sen]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=144}} In the days of tense political climate in Burma, Thant stood moderate grounds between fervent nationalists and British loyalists.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}
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