Nanda Thein Zan ( my, နန္ဒာသိန်းဇံ; 21 February 1947 – 14 August 2011) was a well-known author from

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

who wrote on philosophy and Buddhism. Zan was born on 21 February 1947 in

Paungde Township Paungde Township is a township in Pyay District in the Bago Region of Burma.

Pegu Division Bago Region ( my, ပဲခူးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Pegu Division and Bago Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region a ...

, the youngest of three siblings. At an early age he began writing under the pen name "Thein Zan" in the ''Thit Bawa Magazine''. His first article was on ''Memory and Thought'', appearing in the November 1963 issue. Later he changed his pen name to "Nandar Thein Zan" to avoid confusion with another writer publishing under the name "Thein Zan". He studied at the

University of Rangoon '') , mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom. , established = , type = Public , rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun , undergrad = 4194 , postgrad = 5748 , city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon , state = Yangon Regio ...

, obtaining a BA degree in 1966 and a master's degree in philosophy in 1968. His master's thesis was on ''Definition and Truth of Life''. Starting in 1969, Nanda Thein Zan published at least 18 books about philosophy and Buddhism. He had a talent for explaining philosophical concepts in easily understood terms. His work included a widely acclaimed collection of lectures he had given at the Rangoon Workers' College published under the title ''Passing Over Rough Ground''. This work was translated into English by the poet

Moe Hein Moe Hein ( my, မိုးဟိန်း; 10 December 1942 – 23 September 2010) was a Burmese poet and philanthropist. Biography Moe Hein was born on 10 December 1942, as the youngest son of the journalist and writer Journal Kyaw U Chit ...

. He also wrote well-received books on the economic and military strategies of Chinese philosopher

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

. In 1970 Zan obtained a position as a tutor in the philosophy department at the University of Rangoon. Between 1972 and 2003 he also served as a tutor, lecturer and assistant professor at the University of Mawlamyine, Dawei College and Pathein Degree College. In the 1980s and 1990s his work had considerable influence on young people. He was appointed professor and head of the University of Rangoon philosophy department in 2003, holding that position until he retired in 2008. On 1 April 2004 he was honored with the title "Maha Thaddama Zawtika" by the government. In May 2011 he received a

Sayawun Tin Shwe Award The Sayawun Tin Shwe Literary Award ( my, ဆရာဝန်တင်ရွှေဆု) has been presented annually since November 2002 under the patronage of the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association (MWJA). Non-fiction books published in ...

for his work "Naung-ta-kin-ya-tho". Zan died in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

on 14 August 2011 after suffering from lung problems. He was survived by his wife, Khin Mar Mar.

References

{{Authority control 1947 births 2011 deaths Burmese writers Burmese philosophers 20th-century Burmese philosophers 21st-century philosophers University of Yangon alumni People from Bago Region