Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Ba U ( my, ဘဦး, ; 26 May 1887 – 9 November 1963), was a Burmese politician and lawyer. He served as Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Burma The Supreme Court of Myanmar ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုတရားလွှတ်တော်ချုပ်) is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of Myanmar, existing as an independent ju ...

from 1948 to 1952, and the second

president of Burma The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current presiden ...

from 16 March 1952 to 13 March 1957.

Born

He was born on 26 May 1887 at

Pathein Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...

in the

Irrawaddy delta The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of th ...

, son of U Poe Hla and Daw Nyunt.

Education

He passed university entry class from Rangoon Government High School. In 1907 he attended the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

to study law and graduated in 1912. In the early 1950s, he was awarded an Honorary

Doctorate of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

at the University of Rangoon.

Career

He was employed as a lawyer in Yangon between 1913 and 1921. In 1921 he became a district judge. In 1932, he was appointed to the High Court of Judicature at Rangoon as a judge. He was Chief Justice of the

from 1948 to 1952. He was knighted in 1947. He was a member of the

Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), ; abbreviated , ''hpa hsa pa la'' was the dominant political alliance in Burma from 1945 to 1958. It consisted of political parties and mass and class organizations. The league evolved out of t ...

. Ba U served as a judge under British,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Burmese rule. He wrote an autobiography, ''Ba, My Burma: The Autobiography of a President'' (New York: Taplinger, 1958). It contains little in the way of a discussion of public issues.

Family

In 1913 he married Daw Nyein, daughter of retired district judge Aung Zan, and they had two sons. Daw Nyein died in 1922. In 1923 he married Daw Aye, daughter of governor Soe Pe. With her he had two sons and a daughter. Daw Aye died in 1941. He died on 9 November 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ba U 1963 deaths Presidents of Myanmar 1887 births Alumni of the University of Cambridge Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League politicians Burmese judges People from Ayeyarwady Region British Burma judges Burmese knights Knights Bachelor Burmese collaborators with Imperial Japan