Zawgyi ( my, ဇော်ဂျီ, Ashinsoma=Ashin Na Ga Vam Sa, ; born Thein Han (, ); 12 April 1907 – 26 September 1990) was a distinguished and leading Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic. His name, Zawgyi, refers to a mythical wizard from Burmese mythology. He was one of the leaders of the '' Hkit san'' (Testing the Times) movement in

Burmese literature The literature of Burma (or Myanmar) spans over a millennium. Burmese literature was historically influenced by Indian and Thai cultures, as seen in many works, such as the '' Ramayana''. The Burmese language, unlike other Southeast Asian lan ...

searching for a new style and content before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, along with

Theippan Maung Wa Theippan Maung Wa ( my, သိပ္ပံမောင်ဝ ; 5 June 1899 – 6 June 1942) was a Burmese writer, and one of the pioneers of the '' Hkit San'' literary movement. The movement searched for a new style and content in Burmese lit ...

, Nwe Soe and Min Thu Wun. His first ''hkit san'' poetry, ''Padauk pan'' (

Padauk ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarpus ...

flower), was published in ''Hantha Kyemon'' pamphlet. His most memorable work was a play titled ''Maha hsan gyinthu'', an adaptation of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

's ''

Le bourgeois gentilhomme ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a play intermingled with music, dance and singing – written by Molière ...

'', published in 1934. His most famous poem was ''Beida lan'' (''The Hyacinth's Way'') that traces a journey through life's ups and downs, published in 1963.

Early life

Zawgyi was the eldest in a family of nine. He won the ''Thissawardi'' Prize (5 gold sovereigns) from the ''Thissawardi'' newspaper for the poem "Sittathukha Linga", translated from the English poet

Henry Wotton Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...

's "

The Character of a Happy Life Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...

". He went on to the University of Rangoon, passed the intermediate level with credits in Burmese and won the "Tha Doe Aung" prize. After graduating with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1929, majoring in

, English literature, Oriental and Far East History, Zawgyi became a tutor in the Burmese Department at the university. In 1931, Zawgyi returned to the Myoma High School to teach until 1934. After achieving the MA degree from the Rangoon University in 1936, he became a tutor in Burmese at the Mandalay Intermediate College until 1938 when he went to England to study at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and then at the University of Dublin for the Diploma in

Library Science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, an ...

Distinguished career

In 1941, Zawgyi became Librarian at the University of Rangoon. He married Saw Yin (B.A., BEd). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Zawgyi became Deputy Director General (Literature and Libraries Division) at the Ministry of Education. After the war he returned to his old job as Librarian at the University of Rangoon (called Yangon in Burmese), then from 1947 to 1948 Special Officer for the legislative council and

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

Office. He was awarded the honour of ''

Wunna Kyawhtin This article considers the religious, military and civil orders, decorations and medals of Union of Myanmar. Religious honorary orders Before and after Myanmar's independence, governments presented two religious orders, Abhidhaja Maha Ratht ...

'' for distinguished service by the government. Between 1950 and 1952, Zawgyi travelled as part of a delegation to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, United States, Mexico and Canada. From 1951 to 1957 he was Director of the Textbooks Committee at the Ministry of Education. In 1955 Zawgyi won the ''

Sarpay Beikman Sarpay Beikman ( my, စာပေဗိမာန်; ) originated as the Burmese Translation Society. Its first President was Prime Minister U Nu, who started a Burmese translation job at Judson College (now University of Yangon). The purpose was ...

'' "variety in literature" (''sa padetha'') prize for ''

Thakin Kodaw Hmaing Thakin Kodaw Hmaing ( my, သခင်ကိုယ်တော်မှိုင်း, ; 23 March 1876 – 23 July 1964) is considered one of the greatest Burmese poets, writers and political leaders in the 20th century history of Burma. ...

htika''. He then became Chairman of the Burma History Commission in 1959. The year 1961 saw him as

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Burmese at the University of Rangoon and was awarded the honour of ''

Thiri Pyanchi This article considers the religious, military and civil orders, decorations and medals of Union of Myanmar. Religious honorary orders Before and after Myanmar's independence, governments presented two religious orders, Abhidhaja Maha Ratht ...

'' by the government. He was also President of the Technical Terms Committee and the National Literary Awards Selection Committee. He retired as Librarian of the Universities Central Library in 1967. He was then appointed First Special Officer for Education, President of the

Burma Research Society The Burma Research Society ( my, မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ သုတေသန အသင်း ) was an academic society devoted to historical research of Burma (Myanmar). Its aims were "the investigation and encouragement of Art, Sci ...

and Adviser for the Burma History Commission. In 1976 he visited India with Khin Zaw (the author and translator ''K'') where he read a paper on the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. In 1979 Zawgyi won the National Literary Award for "''Nin-la-hè chit dukkha'' (''Damn You, Broken Heart'') and Other Short Stories", and in 1987, another for "Ancient Bagan and Other Poems".

Family

When Zawgyi died at the age of 83, on 26 September 1990, he left wife Saw Yin and their three daughters, Dr. Khin Myo Han, Dr. Khin Hla Han and Dr. Khin Ohn Han. His family, students and colleagues created the "Zawgyi prize" and "Ganda Lawka Thingaha prize" for outstanding diploma students in Library and Information Studies and Masters students in Burmese..

Zawgyi in Burmese myth and culture

Magician's Caves
*Zawgyi in Burmese Puppet Theatre

References

External links

''Sittathukha linkar''
in Burmese, Zawgyi
''Maha Sanchinthu'' radio drama

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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