Aung San Aung San Suu Kyi's father was assassinated in 1947 when she was 2 years old. Burma was a British colony and General Aung San had signed an agreement which would lead to Burma's independence. He was assassinated along with six other members of his cabinet. Aung San Suu Kyi says that, although she barely knew her father, he remains a guiding force in her life:

"Politics is seen as a duty and as a destiny…You just have to follow that …If you're lucky enough to also have a personal life that is a bonus but you have a role that you have to play, because you have been born into a particular circumstance, into a particular family. That is not a western view but it is a view that many people have of themselves and of their functions in life .. If that is your fate and that is your role, it is a responsibility that is given to you. and you cannot just avoid it. I think that many people understand that it is your fate and it is your destiny and you have to follow it."

She then lived with her mother, Burma's Ambassador to India until going to Oxford University at the age of 19.