Saw Mon Nyin
Saw Mon Nyin, born Yin Yin, was a well-known Burmese author who wrote about Myanmar women’s clothing and hairstyles. She was born on 10 August 1919 in Momeik, Shan State, during British Burma, and died on 12 December 2011 in Yangon at the age of 92. She studied at the University of Rangoon and Trinity College Dublin.
As a child, Yin Yin traveled to other countries as a representative of the Myanmar Girl Guides. She adopted the pen name Saw Mon Nyin at age 17, and her first published article appeared in eighth grade, about gambling, in the Yadanar Thiha journal.
Beginning in 1988, she hosted a Cultural Affairs program on Myanmar Radio and Television Department twice a month. She helped prepare the Myanmar–English Dictionary as a member of the Myanmar Language Commission, which was published in 1993. In 2004 she published her autobiography, her last book.
Yin Yin supported many groups, including the Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs Association and the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association. She served as Culture Advisor to the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation and Drama Advisor to the University of Culture Zat. She was active in the Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association, chaired the National Literary Awards selection committee, and judged the Myanmar Traditional Cultural Performing Arts Competition.
She received several honors: the National Literary Award in 1989 for Myanmar Women’s Clothing and Hairstyles, the Southeast Asia Literary Award in 2000, a Lifetime National Literary Award in January 2007, the Dr Tin Shwe Literary Award in May 2007 for her autobiography, and a Lifelong Achievement Award from Pakokku U Ohn Pe.
Health problems emerged in 2008, and she passed away at her home in Yangon on 12 December 2011, having outlived her husband and two sons. Colleagues called her death a great loss to arts and literature, noting she was both a gifted writer and an inspiring speaker on culture and patriotism.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:03 (CET).