Phwar Hmee

Daw Phwar Hmee (Burmese: ဖွားမှီ, also Phwar Mhe; 1902 – 1962) was the first woman barrister from Myanmar.[1][2] She practised as a barrister after she was called to the bar from the Inner Temple in 1925.[3]

In this Burmese name, Daw is an honorific, not a surname.
Daw Phwar Hmee
ဖွားမှီ
Born1902
Rangoon, British Burma
Died1962 (1963) (aged 60)
NationalityBurmese
OccupationBarrister
Known forFirst Female Burmese Barrister[1][2]
Spouse(s)Myint Thein (chief justice)

Biography

Phwar was born on 1902 in Rangoon, British Burma, she was the eldest daughter of a well respected civil servant in Rangoon. After studying at University College, Rangoon, she came to London, to study for the Bar. In 1924, she applied to become a student at the Inner Temple. Her application included a reference from Harvey Adamson who had been Lieutenant Governor of Burma, from 1910 to 1915.[4] In 1924, she applied to become a student at the Inner Temple, with a reference from Harvey Adamson, who had been Lieutenant Governor of Burma from 1910 to 1915. Phwar Hmee was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1925.

She married to Myint Thein, who had also read law and was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1925. Upon their return to Burma, Phwar Hmee became the first woman to practise before the Courts in Burma. Her husband Myint Thein became Burmese ambassador to Nanking, Beijing and the United Nations, before becoming Chief Justice of Burma from, 1957 to 1962.[5]

When the military regime seized power in 1962, Daw Phwar Hmee and Myint Thein refused to cooperate, and Myint Thein was imprisoned. She passed away in 1962 aged 60, whilst her husband was in prison.

See also

References
  1. Ministry of Information. "Commemorating Chief Justice U Myint Thein's 120th birthday | Ministry Of Information". www.moi.gov.mm. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. DR MYINT ZAN (20 March 2020). "The best and the 'baddest': remembering U Myint Thein". Frontier Myanmar.
  3. Lin Lewis, Su (2016) Cities in Motion: Urban Life and Cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia, 1920-1940.Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107108332
  4. "First Female Burmese Barrister". First 100 Years. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. "The President Should Appoint Up to Six New Supreme Court Judges". The Global New Light of Myanmar. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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