Oxford mourns Aris
MICHAEL ARIS, husband of Burmese Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and Fellow of St. Anthony's College, died of prostate cancer last month, ending an unconventional yet surprisingly strong marriage of 27 years. Aris was always aware that his wife would one day have to return to Myanmar (formerly Burma) due to her family history in order to help her people fight for freedom; Ms Suu Kyi's father was General Aung San, a national hero assassinated in 1947 after winning his country's independence from Britain.
Mr Aris met his wife while she was a student at Oxford and the couple spent time in Bhutan and the UK before Ms Suu Kyi was forced returned to Myanmar in 1988 to be with her terminally ill mother. At the same time, a nationwide, pro-democratic uprising occurred and, following a brutal massacre of protesting civilians by the military, the daughter of the General soon emerged as the leader of the pro-democracy movement. The military crushed the protest and placed Ms Suu Kyi under house arrest between 1989 and 1995, during which time she was visited several times by her husband and the couple's two sons, Alexander and Kim.
Events in Myanmar came to increasingly dominate Michael Aris' life. In 1991 he collected Suu Kyi's writings and published them in a book entitled Freedom From Fear, although further visits to his wife's country were blocked by the military government and, despite international pressure, Aris' continual applications for a visa were refused.
His condition was deteriorating yet he was determined to be able to meet his wife one final time before his death. In a move described by the British Foreign Office as "deeply regrettable", the military government once more refused Aris access, only a week before his death on 27th March, instead publicly granting Suu Kyi permission to leave the country and subsequently return.
However, having suffered years of oppression, it is very unlikely that she would have been allowed back into Myanmar and, with more than 200 democratic MPs already assassinated by the Junta regime and the movement needing her inspirational leadership and diplomatic contacts across the world, Ms Suu Kyi felt strongly that she had to remain in her homeland in order to continue the struggle for democracy.
Upon learning of her husband's death, Ms Suu Kyi, released a brief press statement. "I have been so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband who has always given me the understanding I needed. Nothing can take that away from me."