WAung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since 2011, having been the general secretary from 1988 to 2011. She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s.
WPhyoe Phyoe Aung is a student activist and former political prisoner from Burma (Myanmar). Her father is also an activist and was repeatedly arrested and sentenced for long prison terms under the military regime. She was one year old when her father was arrested and sentenced for 20 years in 1989. She was awarded an International Women of Courage Award in 2021.
WU Dhammaloka was an Irish-born migrant worker turned Buddhist monk, strong critic of Christian missionaries, and temperance campaigner who took an active role in the Asian Buddhist revival around the turn of the twentieth century.
WLudu U Hla was a Burmese journalist, publisher, chronicler, folklorist and social reformer whose prolific writings include a considerable number of path-breaking nonfiction works. He was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu Daw Amar.
WNaw Ohn Hla is a Karen democracy activist, politician, human rights defender, environmental rights and land rights activist for decades. She has been active in campaigning against the Letpadaung mining project in northern Myanmar. Naw Ohn Hla is the general secretary of United Nationalities Democracy Party (UNDP).
WNay Win Maung was a Burmese physician, businessman and pro-democracy activist. Maung advocated a conciliatory approach toward Myanmar's ruling military junta, which seized power in 1988. Maung argued that Burma could be moved towards democratization by working directly with the country's generals, rather than confronting them. Maung sometimes took political positions which proved controversial among Burma's opposition leaders, who often viewed his ties to the military government with suspicion. He stated that Aung San Suu Kyi should accept a new constitution written by the military as a token of goodwill. He believed that Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) should only contest half the parliamentary seats in the 2010 general election, arguing that a landslide win for the NLD would scare the Burmese rulers into holding onto power. However, Maung heavily criticized the generals for rigging the 2010 general election when the extent of voter fraud became known..
WSayadaw U Ottama was a Rakhinese Theravada Buddhist monk, author, and a leader of the Burmese independence movement during British colonial rule. The ethnic Rakhine (Arakanese) monk was imprisoned several times by the British colonial government for his anti-colonialist political activities. He is considered one of the national heroes of modern Myanmar.
WSasa, known honorifically as Dr Sasa, is a Chin medical doctor, philanthropist and civil society activist who currently serves as the Minister of International Cooperation in the cabinet of National Unity Government. He previously served as the Special Envoy of Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) to the United Nations. He is the founder of Health and Hope, a Christian health organization that works with churches to promote development in Chin State and trains villagers to become community health workers. Sasa has been recognised as one of the "Tearfund's Inspired Individuals" for his contributions in Myanmar.
WPhyu Phyu Thin is a Burmese politician and HIV/AIDS activist who served as a House of Representatives MP for Mingala Taungnyunt Township from 2012 until her removal from office in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
WJanaki Venkataraman was the First Lady of India from 1987 until 1992. She was the wife of Indian President R. Venkataraman who served as India's head of state from 25 July 1987 until 25 July 1992.
WWai Wai Nu is a Burmese activist who advocates for the rights and equality of all people in Myanmar, including the Rohingya. She was listed one of the BBC 100 Women in 2014. In 2017, she was named one of Time magazine's Next Generation Leaders.
WWin Htein is a Burmese politician and former inmate who served as a Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Meiktila Township. He is a patron and member of the Central Executive Committee of National League for Democracy (NLD), for which he acts as official spokesperson. Win Htein is considered to be one of the closest confidantes of NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi. On the morning of 5 February 2021, he was charged with sedition and moved to the capital of Naypyidaw, but the location of his detainment remains unclear.
WWin Ko Ko Latt, also known as Thakin Gyi, is a Burmese ultranationalist, Buddhist nationalist, legal advisor, writer, and leader of the anti-Rohingya movement in Myanmar. He is the former chairman of the Myanmar National Network, a faction of the Ma Ba Tha.
WMaung Wuntha, also known as Soe Thein, was a veteran Myanmar journalist and a prominent author. He worked as an editor at several newspapers published by the Government before 1988.
WYe Htoon, also known as Roland Chan Htoon [tɕʰáɴ tʰʊ́ɴ], was a prominent Burmese lawyer, sometime-jailed political dissident, and a successful entrepreneur, and one of the notables of the now-extinct Scouting movement in Burma.
WKyaw Zaw was one of the founders of the Tatmadaw and a member of the legendary "Thirty Comrades" who trained in Japan in the struggle for independence from Britain. He was also one of the leaders of the Communist Party of Burma, and had lived in exile in Yunnan Province, China, since 1989 after retiring from politics.
WZin Mar Aung is a Burmese politician, activist, and former political inmate who served as a House of Representatives MP for Yankin Township Constituency from 2016 until her removal from office in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.