The literature of Myanmar spans over a millennium. The Burmese language, unlike other Southeast Asian languages, adopted words primarily from Pāli rather than from Sanskrit. In addition, Burmese literature tends to reflect local folklore and culture.
The University of Yangon, located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the best known university in Myanmar. The university offers mainly undergraduate and postgraduate degrees programs in liberal arts, sciences and law. Full-time bachelor's degrees were not offered at the university's main campus after the student protests of 1996. The bachelor's degree was re-offered from 2014 on. Today degrees in Political Science are offered to undergraduate students, as well as postgraduate diplomas in areas such as social work and geology.
Saya Zawgyi was a distinguished and leading Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic. He is regarded as the greatest of Myanmar's poets. His name, Zawgyi, refers to a mythical wizard from Burmese mythology. He was one of the leaders of the Hkit san movement in Burmese literature searching for a new style and content before the Second World War, along with Theippan Maung Wa, Nwe Soe and Min Thu Wun. His first hkit san poetry, Padauk pan, was published in Hantha Kyemon pamphlet.
Theippan Maung Wa was a Burmese writer, and one of the pioneers of the Hkit San literary movement. The movement searched for a new style and content in Burmese literature before the Second World War starting with Hkit san ponbyin.
U Ba Shin is a colonel and noted historian and was a member of The Myanmar History Commission and Islamic Religious Affairs Council.
The Defence Services Academy located in Pyin Oo Lwin, is the premier military service academy of Myanmar, training future officers for all three branches of Myanmar military. The Ministry of Defence administered academy offers bachelor's degree programs in liberal arts, combined physical sciences, and computer science. DSA has conferred basic degrees on 33,065 graduates from the first graduation ceremony up to the 62nd graduation in December 2021.
Dagon Khin Khin Lay was a Burmese novelist, screenwriter, and cinematographer. Founder of Dagon Publishing Company, Khin Khin Lay, along with Journal Kyaw Ma Ma Lay and Ludu Daw Amar, she was one of the few female publishers in Burma.
Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San in Burma. He is the father of Htin Kyaw, president of Myanmar from 2016 to 2018.
Binnya U was king of Martaban–Hanthawaddy from 1348 to 1384. His reign was marked by several internal rebellions and external conflicts. He survived the initial rebellions and an invasion by Lan Na by 1353. But from 1364 onwards, his effective rule covered only the Pegu province, albeit the most strategic and powerful of the kingdom's three provinces. Constantly plagued by poor health, U increasingly relied on his sister Maha Dewi to govern. He formally handed her all his powers in 1383 while facing an open rebellion by his eldest son Binnya Nwe, who succeeded him as King Razadarit.
The Burma Education Extension Association was a Rangoon (Yangon)-based educational organization founded by JS Furnivall to promote "the intellectual advancement of the country", and the predecessor organization to the Burma Translation Society.
Ganda Lawka was a Burmese language monthly magazine published by the Burma Education Extension Association. The magazine was a sister publication of The World of Books, the English language monthly started by JS Furnivall, and "welcomed modern Burmese prose, original ideas and criticism." It was edited by a succession of young Burmese writers, including Zawgyi, Min Thu Wun, Sein Tin and Nwe Soe.
Kyipwayay was a pre-World War II Burmese language monthly magazine, closely identified with the Khit-San Sarpay movement, the first modern literary movement in the history of Burmese literature. The magazine was founded by U Thein in Yangon but later taken over by U Hla and moved to Mandalay in 1933. The monthly was published even during the Japanese occupation of the country (1942–1945). After the war, U Hla transformed Kyipwayay into the Ludu Journal.
Khit San Sarpay was a literary movement that emerged in the 1930s British Burma, and is considered the first modern literary movement in the history of Burmese literature. The movement was heavily influenced by modern English literature, and started by young Burmese writers, many of whom were educated in Christian missionary schools. It emerged from the literary contests held by the Burma Education Extension Association. Many short stories in the modern prose appeared in the association's Ganda Lawka Magazine as well as other periodicals. Three collections—Khit-San Ponbyin-mya Volume 1, Khit-San Kabya-mya, and Khit-San Ponbyin-mya Volume 2 (1938), which were edited and selected by came to represent the emerging literary style.
Myint Swe was a Burmese physician and writer. He is known for his first book and memoir, The Japanese Era Rangoon General Hospital, which chronicles the events at the only hospital in Yangon (Rangoon) open to non-Japanese during the Japanese occupation of Burma. It was a bestseller, and won the Burma National Literature Award, 2nd Prize for 1967. He published three more books though none achieved the first book's success.
The Japanese Era Rangoon General Hospital: Memoir of A Wartime Physician is a memoir written by Myint Swe, first published in 1967. It chronicles the events at the only hospital in Yangon (Rangoon) open to non-Japanese during the Japanese occupation of Burma. The book includes the author's eyewitness accounts of hardship and struggles at the makeshift hospital as well as several key people of the era that were treated there, including: Aung San, Ne Win, Bo Letya, Bo Setkya, Thakin Than Tun, Thakin Mya, Ba Cho, Kyaw Nyein, Thakin Po Hla Gyi, Lanmadaw Po Tok, S. C. Bose, and J. R. Bhonsle.
Myint Myint Khin was a Burmese medical professor and writer. An English major at the University of Rangoon, she was the chair of the Department of Medicine of the Institute of Medicine, Mandalay from 1965 to 1984, and served as a consultant at the World Health Organization from 1985 to 1991. Her literary career began in 1996, spurred on by the HIV/AIDS crisis in the country. She published 11 books in Burmese and two in English. At the time of her death, the former professor was collaborating on an English language book on the history of medical education in the country.
Thiri Pyanchi Ba ThanFRCS FACS FICS was a Burmese medical surgeon, educator and administrator. The first Burmese police surgeon in British Burma, Ba Than founded and ran the main hospital in Rangoon (Yangon) as well as the wartime medical and nursing schools during the Japanese occupation of the country (1942–1945). After the country's independence in 1948, Ba Than served several terms as dean and rector of the main medical universities in Rangoon and Mandalay until two months before his death in 1971.
Yin May was a Burmese physician and educator. She was the first Burmese obstetrician and gynecologist, and the first person to perform the Caesarian section in British Burma. She is also known for her research on amoebic vaginitis, known as May's disease.
Thiri Pyanchi Min Sein was a Burmese physician, educator and administrator. The first Burmese dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Rangoon University in British Burma, Min Sein was one of the small group of senior physicians that rebuilt and expanded the country's medical education system from the ground up after the country's independence in 1948. He served as the dean of the medical school four times between 1947 and 1959, and led the Burma Medical Research Institute, the Burma Medical Association and the Burma Olympic Committee.
