Michael Aris

Michael Vaillancourt Aris (27 March 1946 – 27 March 1999[1]) was a historian who wrote and lectured on Bhutanese, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and history. He was the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, who would later become State Counsellor of Myanmar.

Michael Aris
Born	Michael Vaillancourt Aris 27 March 1946 Havana, Cuba
Died	27 March 1999 (aged 53) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Resting place	St. Mary and St. Peter Churchyard Weedon Lois, South Northamptonshire, England
Alma mater	Worth School St Cuthbert's Society, Durham University School of Oriental and African Studies
Spouse(s)	Aung San Suu Kyi ​ ​ (m. 1972; his death 1999)​
Children	Alexander Aris Kim Aris
Signature

Life

Aris was born in Havana, Cuba. His mother, Josette Aris (née Vaillancourt), was the Canadian Ambassador's daughter, and his English father, John Aris, was an officer with the British Council.[1][2]

After being educated at Worth School in Sussex and upon completing his degree in modern history at St Cuthbert's Society, Durham University in 1967, Aris spent six years as the private tutor of the children of the royal family of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.

In 1976, Aris moved on to Oxford University and became a junior research fellow and a member of the university faculty at St John's College. In 1978, he obtained a Ph.D. in Tibetan literature from the University of London. Later at St Antony's College, Oxford, he became a senior research fellow of Asian Studies Center. In the last years before his death, he helped to establish a specialist Tibetan and Himalayan Studies centre at Oxford.[1]

Michael Aris's identical twin brother, Anthony Aris, similarly became a scholar of Tibetan studies, and founded Serindia Publications to focus on bringing Tibetan history and culture to modern audiences.[1][2]

Aung San Suu Kyi

In 1972, Aris married Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he had met while at the university. They married in a Buddhist ceremony. After spending a year in Bhutan, they settled in North Oxford, where they raised their two sons, Alexander Aris and Kim Aris. During this time, he did postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and obtained a PhD in Tibetan literature in 1978.[3] In 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma at first to care for her mother but later to lead the country's pro-democracy movement. St John's College provided Aris with an extended leave of absence as a fellow on full stipend so that he could lobby for his wife's cause.

In 1997, Aris was diagnosed with prostate cancer which was later found to be terminal. Several countries, prominent individuals and organisations, including the United States government, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul II, made appeals to the Burmese authorities to allow Dr Aris a visa. The Burmese government would not grant him a visa to visit Burma, saying that they did not have the facilities to care for him, and instead urged Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. She was at that time temporarily free from house arrest but was unwilling to depart, fearing that she would be refused re-entry if she left, as she did not trust the junta's assurance that she could return.[4]

After 1989, when his wife was first placed under house arrest, and until his death in 1999, he had seen her only five times, the last of which was for Christmas in 1995, after Suu Kyi had been released for the first time.

Death

Aris died of prostate cancer on his 53rd birthday in 1999, in Oxford.[1][5]

Publications

• Freedom from Fear and Other Writings: Revised Edition (Paperback) by Aung San Suu Kyi (Author), Václav Havel (Foreword), Desmond M. Tutu (Foreword), Michael Aris (Editor). Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Sub edition (1 March 1996). ISBN 978-0-14-025317-7.
• Tibetan Studies in Honor of Hugh Richardson. Edited by Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi. Preface by Michael Aris. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi.
• "Notes on the History of the Mon-yul Corridor." In: * Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson, pp. 9–20. Edited by Michael Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi.
• Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives: A Study of Pemalingpa (1450–1521) and the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683–1706) (1450–1521 and the Sixth Dalai Lama). Kegan Paul; 1st edition (May 1989). ISBN 978-0-7103-0328-8.
• The Raven Crown: The Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan (Hardcover). Serindia Publications (1 October 2005). ISBN 978-1-932476-21-7.
• Lamas, Princes, and Brigands: Joseph Rock's Photographs of the Tibetan Borderlands of China. Joseph F. Rock (Author), Michael Aris (Editor). 1st edition 1982. Reprint: China House Gallery. China Institute in America (June 1992). ISBN 978-0-295-97209-1.
• Bhutan, the Early History of a Himalayan Kingdom. (Aris & Phillips Central Asian Studies) (Paperback). Aris & Phillips (May 1979). ISBN 978-0-85668-199-8.
• Views of Medieval Bhutan: The Diary and Drawings of Samuel Davis 1783 (Hardcover). Roli Books International (1982).
• High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture (Paperback) by Hugh Richardson (Author), Michael Aris (Author). Serindia Publications (October 1998). ISBN 978-0-906026-46-5.
• Ceremonies of the Lhasa Year (Heritage of Tibet) (Paperback) by Hugh Richardson (Author), Michael Aris (Editor). Serindia Publications (June 1994). ISBN 978-0-906026-29-8.
• Sources for the history of Bhutan (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde) (Unknown Binding). Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien (1986).
• Tibetan studies and resources in Oxford. (6 pages only – unknown publisher and binding)

References

1. Hoge, Warren (30 March 1999). "Michael V. Aris, 53, Dies; Scholarly Husband of Laureate". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
2. Gutchow, Kim. 'Michael Aris: In memoriam'. Ladakh Studies 12 (Autumn 1999), pp. 18–20.
3. "SOAS Tibetan Studies Alumni". The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) - University of London. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011.
4. "Suu Kyi rejects UK visit offer". BBC News. 26 March 1999. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
5. "Obituary: A courageous and patient man". BBC News. 27 March 1999. Archived from the original on 25 August 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2006.