Background
Htin Aung was born to a Burmese aristocratic family on 18 May 1909.
Htin Aung was born to a Burmese aristocratic family on 18 May 1909.
Htin Aung graduated from Yangon"s elite Saint Paul"s English High School.
Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, Htin Aung wrote several books on Burmese history and culture in both Burmese and English. His English-language works brought a much-needed Burmese perspective to the international study of Burmese history, previously written by British historians of the colonial era. Htin Aung, as the rector of the University of Rangoon from 1946 to 1958, was the highest ranking academic in the Burmese education system, at the time.
He was a great-great-grandson of Maha Minhla Mindin Raza, a military officer in the Konbaung court, who fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War.
He had six other siblings. He was the youngest of four brothers, including Tin Tut, Myint Thein and Kyaw Myint.
He went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws from Cambridge University, a Bachelor in Civil Law from Oxford University, a Master of Laws from the University of London, and doctorates in Anthropology and Literature from Trinity College, Dublin. Htin Aung was the Rector of Rangoon University (Yangon University) from 1946 to 1958 and Vice Chancellor in 1959.
He was appointed Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1959 to 1962.
He later became a visiting professor at Columbia University and then at Wake Forest University.