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{{Short description|Burmese human rights activist, writer, surgeon}}
[[File:Ma Thida (San Chaung).jpg|thumb|300px|Ma Thida (San Chaung)]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}
⚫
'''Ma Thida''' {{MYname|MY=မသီတာ(စမ်းချောင်း)|MLCTS=ma. si ta}} (''ca''. 1966) is a [[Burma|Burmese]] [[surgeon]], writer, [[human rights activist]] and former [[prisoner of conscience]].<ref name=tha>{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/23170 |title=I Write Just to Be ‘A Good Citizen,’ Says Ma Thida |work=[[The Irrawaddy]] |author=Kyaw Phyo Tha |date=January 5, 2013 |accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> She has published under the pseudonym '''Suragamika''' which means "brave traveler". In Myanmar, Thida is best known as a leading intellectual, whose books deal with the country's political situation.<ref name=tha/> She has worked as an editor at a Burmese monthly youth magazine and a weekly newspaper.<ref name=tha/> She has been a surgeon at [[Muslim Free Hospital]], which provides free services to the poor.<ref name=kapur/>
{{family name hatnote|lang=Burmese|Ma Thida}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ma Thida
| native_name = {{nobold|မသီတာ}}
| native_name_lang = my
| other_names =
| image = Ma Thida (San Chaung).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Ma Thida in 2018
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1966|9|2}}
| birth_place = [[Myanmar]]
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place =
| nationality = Burmese
| education =
| years_active =
| party =
| parents =
| children =
| known_for = Human rights works, former [[Political prisoner]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Surgeon|writer|[[human rights activist]]}}
| criminal_charge =
| alma_mater =
| criminal_penalty =
| criminal_status =
}}
⚫
'''Ma Thida''' ({{MYname|MY=မသီတာ|MLCTS=ma. si ta}}; born {{birth date and age|df=y|1966|9|2}} is a Burmese surgeon, writer, [[human rights activist]] and former [[prisoner of conscience]].<ref name=tha>{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/23170 |title=I Write Just to Be 'A Good Citizen,' Says Ma Thida |work=[[The Irrawaddy]] |author=Kyaw Phyo Tha |date=January 5, 2013 |accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> She has published under the pseudonym '''Suragamika''' which means "brave traveler". In Myanmar, Thida is best known as a leading intellectual, whose books deal with the country's political situation.<ref name=tha/> She has worked as an editor at a Burmese monthly youth magazine and a weekly newspaper.<ref name=tha/> She has been a surgeon at [[Muslim Free Hospital]], which provides free services to the poor.<ref name=kapur/>


==Life and works==
==Life and works==
Ma Thida studied medicine in the early 1980s earning a degree in surgery, and also took up writing at a young age.<ref name=tha/> She said, "I wanted to become a writer because I want to share what I observe around me, like poverty."<ref name=tha/> Her interest in health care developed after falling ill as a child.<ref name=tha/>
Ma Thida studied medicine in the early 1980s earning a degree in surgery, and also took up writing at a young age.<ref name=tha/> She said, "I wanted to become a writer because I want to share what I observe around me, like poverty."<ref name=tha/> Her interest in health care developed after falling ill as a child.<ref name=tha/>


In October 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in [[Insein Prison]] for "endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and distributing unlawful literature."<ref name=kapur>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article114452.ece |title='I write from my heart' |work=[[The Hindu]] |author=Mita Kapur |date=February 27, 2010 |accessdate=January 9, 2013}}</ref> In fact, she was actively supporting [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], a Nobel laureate and founder of the main opposition party in Burma.<ref name=baker>{{cite web |url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/campus-news/thida-imprisonment-a-temporary-death-1.1669618#.UO5OtXfNl8E |title=Thida: Imprisonment a temporary death |work=Brown Daily Herald |author=Christopher Baker |date=September 26, 2008 |accessdate=January 9, 2013}}</ref> She served nearly six years in unhealthy, mostly solitary conditions. She contracted tuberculosis without adequate access to medical care.<ref name=pwint/> During this time she was awarded several international human rights awards, including the [[Reebok Human Rights Award]] (1996) and the [[PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award]] (1996).<ref name=tha/> Ma Thida said, "Were it not for [[vipassana]] (Buddhist meditation), I would not have overcome the untold hardships I faced in prison."<ref name=tha/> In 1999, she was released on "humanitarian grounds" after serving five years, six months and six days.<ref name=kapur/> She was released due to declining health, increasing political pressure and the efforts of human rights organizations like [[Amnesty International]] and [[PEN International]].<ref name=baker/> Later she chaired the ''Pen Myanmar''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://ifoa.org/participants/dr-ma-thida |title=Dr. Ma Thida |work=International Festival of Authors |year=2015 |accessdate=13 August 2015}}</ref>
In October 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in [[Insein Prison]] for "endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and distributing unlawful literature."<ref name=kapur>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article114452.ece |title=I write from my heart |work=[[The Hindu]] |author=Mita Kapur |date=February 27, 2010 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130216223215/http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/i-write-from-my-heart/article114452.ece |archivedate=February 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 10, 2013 }}</ref> In fact, she was actively supporting [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], a Nobel laureate and founder of the main opposition party in Burma.<ref name=baker>{{cite web |url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/campus-news/thida-imprisonment-a-temporary-death-1.1669618 |title=Thida: Imprisonment a temporary death |work=Brown Daily Herald |author=Christopher Baker |date=September 26, 2008 |accessdate=January 9, 2013}}</ref> She served nearly six years in unhealthy, mostly solitary conditions. She contracted tuberculosis without adequate access to medical care.<ref name=pwint/> During this time she was awarded several international human rights awards, including the [[Reebok Human Rights Award]] (1996) and the [[PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award]] (1996).<ref name=tha/> Ma Thida said, "Were it not for [[vipassana]] (Buddhist meditation), I would not have overcome the untold hardships I faced in prison."<ref name=tha/> In 1999, she was released on "humanitarian grounds" after serving five years, six months and six days.<ref name=kapur/> She was released due to declining health, increasing political pressure and the efforts of human rights organizations like [[Amnesty International]] and [[PEN International]].<ref name=baker/> Later she chaired the ''Pen Myanmar''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://ifoa.org/participants/dr-ma-thida |title=Dr. Ma Thida |work=International Festival of Authors |year=2015 |accessdate=August 13, 2015}}</ref> In 1996 she received the award of year's PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write but she was still in prison until 1999.<ref>[https://pen.org/advocacy-case/ma-thida/ STATUS: RELEASED]</ref>


From 2008 to 2010, she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at [[Brown University]] and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at [[Harvard University]].<ref name=tha/>
From 2008 to 2010, she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at [[Brown University]] and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at [[Harvard University]].<ref name=tha/>


Her first book was ''The Sunflower'', which was only released in Burma in 1999, as it was banned upon international release in the early 1990s.<ref name=tha/> The book argues that the Burmese people have high expectations of democracy icon [[Suu Kyi]] that made her "a prisoner of applause."<ref name=tha/> ''The Roadmap'' (2012) is a fictional story based on events in Burmese politics from 1988 to 2009.<ref name=tha/> The Myanmar-language book ''Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard'' is a memoir, as the title suggests, about her early life in Sanchaung, imprisonment in Insein, and time in the United States.<ref name=pwint>{{cite web |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/3178-author-tells-of-health-problems-inhumane-prison-conditions.html |title=Author tells of health problems, inhumane prison conditions |work=The Myanmar Times |author=Zon Pann Pwint |date=19 November 2012 |accessdate=January 9, 2013}}</ref>
Her first book was ''The Sunflower'', which was only released in Burma in 1999, as it was banned upon international release in the early 1990s.<ref name=tha/> The book argues that the Burmese people have high expectations of democracy icon [[Suu Kyi]] that made her "a prisoner of applause."<ref name=tha/> ''The Roadmap'' (2012) is a fictional story based on events in Burmese politics from 1988 to 2009.<ref name=tha/> The Myanmar-language book ''Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard'' is a memoir, as the title suggests, about her early life in Sanchaung, imprisonment in Insein, and time in the United States.<ref name=pwint>{{cite web |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/3178-author-tells-of-health-problems-inhumane-prison-conditions.html |title=Author tells of health problems, inhumane prison conditions |work=The Myanmar Times |author=Zon Pann Pwint |date=November 19, 2012 |accessdate=January 9, 2013}}</ref>


In the month of July 2016, the English translation of her prison memoir "Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard" was published worldwide with the title of "Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein" by Silkworm, publishing house in Thailand.<ref>http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/22145-prisoner-of-conscience-my-steps-through-insein-launches-in-english.html</ref>
In the month of July 2016, the English translation of her prison memoir "Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard" was published worldwide with the title of "Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein" by Silkworm, publishing house in Thailand.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mmtimes.com/lifestyle/22145-prisoner-of-conscience-my-steps-through-insein-launches-in-english.html|title='Prisoner of Conscience : My steps Through Insein' launches in English|date=2016-08-25|website=The Myanmar Times|language=en|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>


She was honored with the 2016 'Disturbing the Peace' award given by the [[Vaclav Havel Library Foundation]], for her humanitarian values and for having suffered unjust persecution for her beliefs.<ref>http://www.vhlf.org/news/vaclav-havel-library-foundation-names-burmese-writer-ma-thida-winner-of-disturbing-the-peace-award/</ref> In 2016, she was elected to the board of PEN International at 82nd PEN International Congress held in Galician, Spain.<ref>https://penclubtrieste.blogspot.com/2016/10/82-congresso-del-pen-international.html</ref>
She was honored with the 2016 'Disturbing the Peace' award given by the [[Vaclav Havel Library Foundation]], for her humanitarian values and for having suffered unjust persecution for her beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vhlf.org/news/vaclav-havel-library-foundation-names-burmese-writer-ma-thida-winner-of-disturbing-the-peace-award/|title=VACLAV HAVEL LIBRARY FOUNDATION NAMES BURMESE WRITER MA THIDA WINNER OF 'DISTURBING THE PEACE' AWARD – The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> In 2016, she was elected to the board of PEN International at 82nd PEN International Congress held in Galician, Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penclubtrieste.blogspot.com/2016/10/82-congresso-del-pen-international.html|title=PEN Club Trieste: 82° CONGRESSO DEL PEN INTERNATIONAL A OURENSE - SPAGNA|last=Rocca|first=A. della|date=2016-10-05|website=PEN Club Trieste|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>


==Works==
==Works==
Line 26: Line 54:
*''The Roadmap'' (2011)
*''The Roadmap'' (2011)
*''Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard'' (2012)
*''Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard'' (2012)
*''A Letter for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi''(2013)
*''A Letter for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi'' (2013)
*The imperishable dictum (2014)
*The imperishable dictum (2014)
*Brown to Crimson, a personal memoir of experience of Brown University and Radcliff fellowship of Harvard University (2014)<ref>http://integrity20.org/ma-thida/</ref>
*Brown to Crimson, a personal memoir of experience of Brown University and Radcliff fellowship of Harvard University (2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://integrity20.org/speakers/ma-thida/|title=Ma Thida {{!}} Integrity 20|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>
*What is independent citizen's spirit?, editorials from the Myanmar Independent news journals (2014)
*What is independent citizen's spirit?, editorials from the Myanmar Independent news journals (2014)
*Youths who dare to live and compete, articles about youths all over the words who have some difficulties or disabilities but be capable of extra-ordinary works (2014)
*Youths who dare to live and compete, articles about youths all over the words who have some difficulties or disabilities but be capable of extraordinary works (2014)
*Nothing to lose but your life (Translation Work @ 2015)
*Nothing to lose but your life (Translation Work @ 2015)
*From Selfishness to Leaving from Fear, compilation of short stories, collection of 53 short stories (2015)
*From Selfishness to Leaving from Fear, compilation of short stories, collection of 53 short stories (2015)
Line 38: Line 66:


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}9. http://integrity20.org/ma-thida/
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100108201340/http://www.uib.no/isf/people/amnesty/thidabrv.htm Ma Thida] at [[Amnesty International]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100108201340/http://www.uib.no/isf/people/amnesty/thidabrv.htm Ma Thida] at [[Amnesty International]]


{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thida, Ma}}

[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
Line 53: Line 82:
[[Category:Victims of human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Victims of human rights abuses]]
[[Category:Burmese human rights activists]]
[[Category:Burmese human rights activists]]

[[Category:International Writing Program alumni]]
[[Category:International Writing Program alumni]]
[[Category:Burmese memoirists]]
[[Category:Burmese women physicians]]

Latest revision as of 15:43, 2 September 2024

In this Burmese name, the given name is Ma Thida. There is no family name.
Ma Thida
မသီတာ
Ma Thida in 2018
Born (1966-09-02) 2 September 1966 (age 58)
Myanmar
NationalityBurmese
Occupations
Known forHuman rights works, former Political prisoner

Ma Thida (Burmese: မသီတာ; MLCTS: ma. si ta; born (1966-09-02) 2 September 1966 (age 58) is a Burmese surgeon, writer, human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience.[1] She has published under the pseudonym Suragamika which means "brave traveler". In Myanmar, Thida is best known as a leading intellectual, whose books deal with the country's political situation.[1] She has worked as an editor at a Burmese monthly youth magazine and a weekly newspaper.[1] She has been a surgeon at Muslim Free Hospital, which provides free services to the poor.[2]

Life and works

[edit]

Ma Thida studied medicine in the early 1980s earning a degree in surgery, and also took up writing at a young age.[1] She said, "I wanted to become a writer because I want to share what I observe around me, like poverty."[1] Her interest in health care developed after falling ill as a child.[1]

In October 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in Insein Prison for "endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and distributing unlawful literature."[2] In fact, she was actively supporting Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and founder of the main opposition party in Burma.[3] She served nearly six years in unhealthy, mostly solitary conditions. She contracted tuberculosis without adequate access to medical care.[4] During this time she was awarded several international human rights awards, including the Reebok Human Rights Award (1996) and the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (1996).[1] Ma Thida said, "Were it not for vipassana (Buddhist meditation), I would not have overcome the untold hardships I faced in prison."[1] In 1999, she was released on "humanitarian grounds" after serving five years, six months and six days.[2] She was released due to declining health, increasing political pressure and the efforts of human rights organizations like Amnesty International and PEN International.[3] Later she chaired the Pen Myanmar.[5] In 1996 she received the award of year's PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write but she was still in prison until 1999.[6]

From 2008 to 2010, she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at Brown University and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University.[1]

Her first book was The Sunflower, which was only released in Burma in 1999, as it was banned upon international release in the early 1990s.[1] The book argues that the Burmese people have high expectations of democracy icon Suu Kyi that made her "a prisoner of applause."[1] The Roadmap (2012) is a fictional story based on events in Burmese politics from 1988 to 2009.[1] The Myanmar-language book Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard is a memoir, as the title suggests, about her early life in Sanchaung, imprisonment in Insein, and time in the United States.[4]

In the month of July 2016, the English translation of her prison memoir "Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard" was published worldwide with the title of "Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein" by Silkworm, publishing house in Thailand.[7]

She was honored with the 2016 'Disturbing the Peace' award given by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation, for her humanitarian values and for having suffered unjust persecution for her beliefs.[8] In 2016, she was elected to the board of PEN International at 82nd PEN International Congress held in Galician, Spain.[9]

Works

[edit]
  • The Sunflower (1999)
  • In the Shade of an Indian Almond Tree (1999)
  • Sweet and spicy honey mud (1999)
  • Insight of colorful lights and beyond esthetic border (1999)
  • One, Zero and Ten for Teens (2003)
  • Message to Teen (2011)
  • Translation of Japanese Women's Poems (2011)
  • The Roadmap (2011)
  • Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard (2012)
  • A Letter for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (2013)
  • The imperishable dictum (2014)
  • Brown to Crimson, a personal memoir of experience of Brown University and Radcliff fellowship of Harvard University (2014)[10]
  • What is independent citizen's spirit?, editorials from the Myanmar Independent news journals (2014)
  • Youths who dare to live and compete, articles about youths all over the words who have some difficulties or disabilities but be capable of extraordinary works (2014)
  • Nothing to lose but your life (Translation Work @ 2015)
  • From Selfishness to Leaving from Fear, compilation of short stories, collection of 53 short stories (2015)
  • Sunflower second edition (2015)
  • Prisoner of Conscience: My Steps through Insein (Prison Memoir @ 2016)
  • Writing of Ma Thida (2016)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kyaw Phyo Tha (January 5, 2013). "I Write Just to Be 'A Good Citizen,' Says Ma Thida". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Mita Kapur (February 27, 2010). "I write from my heart". The Hindu. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Christopher Baker (September 26, 2008). "Thida: Imprisonment a temporary death". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Zon Pann Pwint (November 19, 2012). "Author tells of health problems, inhumane prison conditions". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Dr. Ma Thida". International Festival of Authors. 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  6. ^ STATUS: RELEASED
  7. ^ "'Prisoner of Conscience : My steps Through Insein' launches in English". The Myanmar Times. August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  8. ^ "VACLAV HAVEL LIBRARY FOUNDATION NAMES BURMESE WRITER MA THIDA WINNER OF 'DISTURBING THE PEACE' AWARD – The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation". Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Rocca, A. della (October 5, 2016). "PEN Club Trieste: 82° CONGRESSO DEL PEN INTERNATIONAL A OURENSE - SPAGNA". PEN Club Trieste. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  10. ^ "Ma Thida | Integrity 20". Retrieved July 29, 2019.
[edit]
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