Thaw Kaung
|
Sithu Thaw Kaung |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
17 December 1937 (age 79) Rangoon, Burma |
| Nationality | Burmese |
| Alma mater | Rangoon University |
| Occupation | Historian and librarian |
| Spouse(s) | Khin Than (m. 1964) |
| Children | Min Thaw Kaung Thant Thaw Kaung Myat Thaw Kaung |
| Parent(s) | Sithu U Kaung Daw Thane |
| Awards |
Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (Academic) (2005) Pakokku U Ohn Pe Lifetime Achievement Literary Award (2008) Myanma Lifetime Achievement in Literature National Literary Award (2010) |
Sithu Thaw Kaung (Burmese: သော်ကောင်း) is a Burmese university librarian, historian and leading authority in Asian library studies. He specializes in the preservation and archival of traditional documents, including palm leaf manuscripts.
Thaw Kaung was born on 17 December 1937 in Rangoon, as the eldest child of second generation Sino-Burmese parents, Sithu U Kaung (surnamed Saw or Suu), and Daw Thein (surnamed Teoh or Teo). His parents were of Hokkien descent, with ancestors from Quanzhou, Fujian. Thaw Kaung's father was a Director of Education from 1951 to 1957. In 1947, Thaw Kaung followed his father to England to oversee the Burmese scholars studying there. In 1950, he returned to Rangoon, but could not attend school because he suffered from poliarthriticsmyelitis.
Thaw Kaung attended Methodist English High School (now Basic Education High School No. 1 Dagon) from 1952 to 1954, passing the Matriculation examinations in the First Division with distinctions in English and Geography. He majored in English Literature at Rangoon University, graduating with First Class Honours in 1959. He won the U Po Hnit Gold Medal, which was awarded by Rangoon University to the highest-standing student in the B.A. examination for Honours English. He was selected in 1960 as a Burma State Scholar to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Librarianship, specializing in Oriental Bibliography, from the University of London's University College London in 1962.
He was appointed as Deputy University Librarian in 1959 and promoted as the Chief Librarian of the Universities Central Library in 1969. In 1971, he established the Department of Library Studies at the University, and was a central figure in the establishment of the Myanmar Library Association and the National Commission for the Preservation of Traditional Manuscripts. Between 1971 and 1976, he served as Secretary of the Myanmar Language Commission and the first Chairman of the Committee which compiled the Burmese-English Dictionary. Thaw Kaung was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association UK in 1984, becoming the first Southeast Asian librarian to the awarded this prestigious honour. In 1999, he was awarded the Harold White Fellowship at the National Library of Australia.
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