Edward Michael Law-Yone (, nicknamed Ed Law-Yone; February 5, 1911 – June 27, 1980) was a Burmese journalist and official of Burma and then of the Burmese government-in-exile, as well as an author. He was born in Kamaing, Myitkyina District (now part of

Kachin State Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Sh ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. Educated at Saint Peters' School (now Basic Education High School No. 9) in

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

, at 16 he went to work as a clerk in the Burma-China border frontier service. He joined the

Burma Railways Rail transport in Myanmar consists of a railway network with 960 stations. The network, generally spanning north to south with branch lines to the east and west, is the second largest in Southeast Asia, and includes the Yangon Circular Railway ...

in 1930 as a probationer and by 1938 was in charge of the rates and commercial section, traveling in that year over the recently constructed Burma Road to survey the route proposed for linking the Burma and Yunnan- Indochina Railways. In August 1948, he founded ''The Nation'', Burma's most influential English language newspaper, and served as its chief editor, until his 5-year detention, following

Ne Win Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...

's coup d'état in 1962. In a 1957 interview with American news broadcast '' See It Now'', he said: Law-Yone was one of the first recipients of the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, in 1959. ''The Nation'' was shut down in May 1963, the first to be closed by the new government. In 1970, Law-Yone left Burma with his family. In exile, he lived near Lumpini Park in Bangkok, Thailand before settling in Silver Spring, Maryland. His daughter,

Wendy Law-Yone Wendy Law-Yone (; born 1947) is the critically acclaimed Burmese-born American author of ''A Daughter's Memoir of Burma'' (Columbia University Press, 2014), ''Golden Parasol'' (Chatto & Windus, 2013), ''The Road to Wanting'' (Chatto & Windus, 2010 ...

, is a journalist and writer, and his granddaughter, Jocelyn Seagrave, is an actress. Law-Yone was a member of the Executive Committee of the Union of Burma Boy Scouts, and was an active promoter of

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

, taking the lead in fundraising activities and traveling to

international Scouting International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

meetings.

References

Biography of Edward Michael Law Yone

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law-Yone, Edward Michael 1911 births 1980 deaths American newspaper publishers (people) American writers of Chinese descent Burmese emigrants to the United States Burmese journalists Burmese newspaper publishers (people) Burmese people of Chinese descent Burmese writers Businesspeople from Maryland People from Kachin State Scouting and Guiding in Myanmar Writers from Maryland Scouting pioneers Ramon Magsaysay Award winners 20th-century journalists 20th-century American businesspeople