Hnin Mya

Hnin Mya (Burmese: နှင်းမြ, 10 December 1887 – 28 November 1974) was a Burmese politician. In 1932 she became the first female member of the Legislative Council.[1]

Hnin Mya
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1932–1936
ConstituencyMoulmein Town
Personal details
Born10 December 1887
Kyaikmaraw, Burma
Died28 November 1974(1974-11-28) (aged 86)

Biography

Hnin Mya was the sister of Chit Hlaing a prominent politician.[2] After women were granted the right to vote in 1929, she was elected to the Legislative Council from the Moulmein Town constituency in the 1932 elections, becoming its first female member.[3] Following her election, she offered to allow the man she defeated to take the seat.[4] During her first term in the legislature she submitted bills to allow all women over the age of 18 to vote, end property taxation and allow Burmese women to inherit the estates of non-Burmese husbands.[3] When the Legislative Council was replaced by the Legislature in 1936, she was re-elected, remaining the only woman in the legislature.

She died in 1974.[3]

References
  1. The Indian Annual Register Volume II: July-Dec. 1932, p203
  2. Nilanjana Sengupta (2015) The Female Voice of Myanmar: Khin Myo Chit to Aung San Suu Kyi p79
  3. The Day Myanmar Elected Its First Female Senator The Irrawaddy, 16 November 2019
  4. John LeRoy Christian (1945) Burma and the Japanese Invader, p151
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.