U Thant

Thant
သန့်
U Thant in 1963
3rd Secretary-General of the United Nations
In office 30 November 1961 – 31 December 1971
Preceded by	Dag Hammarskjöld
Succeeded by	Kurt Waldheim
Personal details
Born	(1909-01-22)22 January 1909 Pantanaw, British Burma, British India
Died	25 November 1974(1974-11-25) (aged 65) New York City, United States
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Resting place	Kandawmin Garden Mausolea, Yangon, Burma (Myanmar)
Nationality	Burmese
Spouse(s)	Daw Thein Tin (died 1989)
Relations	Po Hnit (father) Nan Thaung (mother) Khant (brother) Thaung (brother) Tin Maung (brother) Thant Myint-U (grandson)
Children	Maung Bo Tin Maung Thant Aye Aye Thant
Parents	Po Hnit Nan Thaung
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Signature

Thant (/θɑːnt/; Burmese: သန့်; MLCTS: san.; Burmese pronunciation: [θa̰ɴ]; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (/ˌuː ˈθɑːnt/), was a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-European to hold the position. He held the office for a record 10 years and one month (3,684 days).

A native of Pantanaw, Thant was educated at the National High School and at the 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 various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961. Thant had a calm and unassuming demeanor which won his colleagues' respect.