Shwe U Daung (24 October 1889—10 August 1973) was a Burmese writer, translator and editor. He is known for creating the character "Detective U San Shar," considered the Burmese equivalent of Sherlock Holmes.[1] He received many awards including the Sarpay Beikman awards.[2][3][4]

Shwe U Daung
ရွှေဥဒေါင်း
Born
Pe Thein

(1889-10-24)October 24, 1889
Man Kyee Tone, Shwebo district, British Burma
DiedAugust 10, 1973(1973-08-10) (aged 83)
NationalityMyanmar
Occupations
  • Writer
  • translator
  • editor
Parent(s)Ayar (father)
Shwe (mother)
AwardsTranslation Award (1952,1955)
Lifetime Achievement Award (1961)

Early life and education edit

Shwe U Daung was born Pe Thein on 24 October 1889 in the Shwebo District, British Burma (now Myanmar). His father, U Ayar, was a British citizen, and his mother was Daw Shwe. He was the third of five siblings. Shwe U Daung attended the Buddhist School in Mandalay and later transferred to the Monastery of Mandalay and ABM school. In 1908, after passing the entrance exam at the University of Calcutta, he worked as a teacher at the Mandalay Buddhist school and the ABM school.

Career edit

On 8 November 1915, his first novel Yan Gyi Aung was published. His second novel Yadanapon, which was written by the request of Thura U Ba Bay, was inspired by Ellen Wood's novel East Lynne. Having published two novels, Shwe U Daung became the editor of Thuriya magazine. It was at this time that he was given the pen name Shwe U Daung. While working as an editor in Thuriya, Shwe U Daung collaborated with a friend and jointly published the first issue of Myanmar Strategic Journal. In 1920, he left the Thuriya magazine.

Shwe U Daung died on 10 August 1973.[5][6]

Published books edit

  • Shwe U Daung, 1953
  • Yadanabon, 1953 (novel)
  • Detective U San Shar, 1961
  • Yupa Kalayar Ni, 1961

Legacy edit

The Ludu Library in Mandalay houses a complete collection of Shwe U Daung's works.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "Shwe U Daung and the Burmese Sherlock Holmes: To be a modern Burmese citizen living in a nation-state, 1889 -1962".
  2. ^ "ရွှေဥဒေါင်းနဲ့ နှစ်ပေါင်း ၁၃ဝ".
  3. ^ "နိုင်ငံကျော် စာရေးဆရာကြီး ရွှေဥဒေါင်းအကြောင်း".
  4. ^ "Libraries honour famous authors".
  5. ^ Shwe U Daung Lifelong History and Ideas.
  6. ^ The Daily Workman's Newspaper. 6 - 8 - 73. .
  7. ^ "The Documentary heritage of Myanmar: selected case studies". UNESCO. 2018. Retrieved 2023-02-28.