{{burmese name|Daw}} {{family name hatnote|lang=Burmese|Mya Sein}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Daw Mya Sein | image = Daw Mya Sein.jpg | alt = | caption = | native_name = {{lang|my|ဒေါ်မြစိန်}} | birth_name = Mya Sein | birth_date = 13 October 1904 | birth_place = Moulmein, Burma, British India | death_date = {{death date and age text|10 November 1988|13 October 1904}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | occupation = Historian, educator, writer | known_for = Burmese writer | spouse = {{marriage|Shwe Baw|1933|1937}} | children = Mya Baw<br/>Mya Thandar | parents = May Oung<br/>Thein Mya | relatives = Tha Doe Oung (brother)<br/> Tun Hla Oung (brother)<br/> Htaw Lay (great-great-grandfather) | awards = | alma_mater = Rangoon University<br/>Oxford University (B. Litt.) }} '''Daw Mya Sein''' ({{langx|my|ဒေါ်မြစိန်}}; 13 October 1904 – 10 November 1988) was a Burmese writer, educator and historian. She led the Burma Women's Council, served as a representative of Asia for the League of Nations in 1931, and as a representative at the Geneva Women's Conference; she was recommended for roundtable attendance by the British government and by several international women's organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/from-the-archive/no-soft-touch.html|title=No Soft Touch|work=The Irrawaddy|date=14 September 2017|accessdate=8 November 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="a">{{cite web|url=http://arakannew1.blogspot.com/2015/01/blog-post_2.html?m=1|title=ဒေါ်မြစိန် (၁၉ဝ၄-၁၉၈၈)|work=arakannew1|date=|accessdate=8 November 2017|language=my}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Mya Sein was born in Moulmein (present-day Mawlamyine), British Burma. She was the youngest child of three of May Oung,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Su Lin |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Cities_in_Motion/AVGJDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daw+Mya+Sein+oxford&pg=PA123&printsec=frontcover |title=Cities in Motion: Urban Life and Cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia, 1920–1940 |date=2016-07-19 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-10833-2 |pages=123 |language=en}}</ref> a politician and legal scholar who served the Minister of Home Affairs of British Burma, and his wife Thein Mya, a great-granddaughter of Htaw Lay, Governor of Dala. Mya Sein attended the Diocesan Girl's High School and St. Mary's SPG High School. She was ranked as the fifth best high school student in the whole country in 1919.<ref name="a" />
Mya Sein continued her education at Rangoon College, ranking first and awarded the Jardin Prize. She graduated from Rangoon University in 1927 then attended St. Hugh's College, Oxford University in 1928.<ref name="a" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ikeya |first=Chie |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Refiguring_Women_Colonialism_and_Moderni/8F4EEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daw+Mya+Sein+oxford&pg=PA57&printsec=frontcover |title=Refiguring Women, Colonialism, and Modernity in Burma |date=2011-01-31 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6106-3 |pages=57 |language=en}}</ref> Mya Sein was the first Burmese woman to graduate from Oxford University.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Than |first=Tharaphi |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_in_Modern_Burma/2e4JAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daw+Mya+Sein+oxford&pg=PA65&printsec=frontcover |title=Women in Modern Burma |date=2013-11-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-66663-8 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref>
==Career and works== thumb|Daw Mya Sein at Burma Round Table Conference London in 1931<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-23 |title=On This Day {{!}} When Myanmar's Women Were Given a Seat at the Table |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/on-this-day/myanmars-women-given-seat-table.html |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=The Irrawaddy |language=en-US}}</ref>|307x307px From 1931 to 1933, Mya Sein served as a representative to the All Asian Women’s Conference in India and to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Makepeace |first=Margaret |date=18 August 2015 |title=Miss May Oung at the Burma Round Table Conference 1931 |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2015/08/miss-may-oung-at-the-burma-round-table-conference-1931.html |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=British Library |language=en}}</ref> She also led the Burma Women's Council.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
Mya Sein attended the Burma Round Table Conference in London,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bauer |first=Gretchen |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_in_Executive_Power/rv1zVtHv3FQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daw+Mya+Sein&pg=PA43&printsec=frontcover |title=Women in Executive Power: A Global Overview |last2=Tremblay |first2=Manon |date=2011-03-10 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-81915-5 |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Shannassy |first=Teresa |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Burma_s_Excluded_Majority/y3ChXg9JZqwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Daw+Mya+Sein+oxford&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover |title=Burma's Excluded Majority: Women, Dictatorship and the Democracy Movement |date=2000 |publisher=CIIR |isbn=978-1-85287-224-3 |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref> despite how the Governor of Burma, Charles Alexander Innes, had not wanted her to be appointed due to her age and gender.<ref name=":0" /> Her attendance was supported by the male Burmese delegates and international organisations including the Women’s Freedom League (WFL) and Equal Rights International.<ref name=":0" />
From 1939 to 1942, Mya Sein served as a representative member of the Burmese-Chinese Peace and as chairwoman of the Yangon Education Board.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} From 1950 to 1960, Mya Sein was a lecturer of history and political science at Rangoon University.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} After her retirement, she became a visiting professor of Burmese history and culture at Columbia University in New York City, United States of America.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
As a prolific writer, Mya Sein penned many articles on Burma in international publications, notably penning the "Administration of Burma" in 1938, "Burma" in 1944 and "The Future of Burma" also in 1944.<ref name="a" />
==Books== * ''Administration of Burma'' (1938) * ''Burma'' (1944) * ''The Future of Burma'' (1944)
==Personal life== Mya Sein was married to ICS U Shwe Baw in 1933 and divorced in 1954, she had one son and one daughter, Mya Baw and Mya Thandar. She died on 10 November 1988 at the age of 84.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
==References == {{reflist}}
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Category:1904 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:20th-century Burmese women writers Category:20th-century Burmese writers Category:People from Mawlamyine Category:Burmese Mon people Category:Women ambassadors of Myanmar Category:People from British Burma Category:Ambassadors of Myanmar to Malaysia Category:Ambassadors of Myanmar to France Category:Ambassadors of Myanmar to Australia Category:Ambassadors of Myanmar to New Zealand Category:Rakhine people