U Aung San

U Aung San (1916?-1947), Burmese nationalist leader. Together with U Nu, he led the so-called Thakin student movement in the 1930s and was briefly jailed by the British for that reason. He fled to Japan in 1940, returning with the invading Japanese at the head of the Burma Independence Army (BIA) in 1941. He later served as minister of defense in the puppet government headed by Ba Maw. Disillusioned with Japan, Aung San handed the BIA over to the Allies in 1944. He then founded the Anti-Fascist People's League and, after the war, emerged as prime minister of British Burma. He negotiated the agreement that won Burma (now known as Myanmar) its independence in 1948 but was assassinated before that agreement could be implemented.