Myanmar's former army chief and defence minister, U Tin Oo, died on Saturday in Yangon, Myanmar, at the age of 97.
His death was confirmed at the hospital by his personal secretary, Min Oo, who said he had a weak heart and died of kidney failure and pulmonary edema.
Tin Oo is one of the most influential figures in modern Myanmar, having founded the country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, with Aung San Suu Kyi during the failed 1988 democracy movement.
Three years later, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest. She has been detained again and it is unclear whether she was informed of Tin Oo's death.
“Aung San Suu Kyi will be deeply saddened to hear of his death as she has lost a trusted confidant,” Myint-U said.
In 2013, she told The New York Times that Tin Oo was “like a father to me.”
Tin Oo became vice-chairman and then chairman of the political party known as the NLD, which won elections in 1990 by a landslide but was prevented from taking power by the military junta at the time.
Soon after, he became one of dozens of pro-democracy activists and party members arrested by the military junta and sentenced to long prison terms.
He later became part of a group of former military officers known as “the Uncles” who advised Aung San Suu Kyi during her 15 years under house arrest.
Even after his release and the establishment of a democratic government that ended decades of military rule, Tin Oo continued to speak out on human rights and Myanmar's development issues.
“Personally, I find the transition difficult and challenging,” he said in a speech at the 2014 Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting.
“I have been a general, a political prisoner, a monk, a law student, a lawyer and a founding member of the NLD political party,” he said. “I have had to face up to the harm I caused people during my military service. For this I have apologized and pledged to work for human rights and democracy.”
“I love the military, but I love my people more,” he told The New York Times in 2020. “And that's why I stand with the people.”
Tin Oo was born on March 3, 1927 in Pathein, a port city on the Pathein River in southern Burma, and was the eldest of six children.
“He served his country since he was 16 years old, fighting against fascist Japan and the Chinese Communist Party,” said U Tun Myint, a spokesman for his party. “He was awarded the title of Tu-la, the highest title in the military.”
Tin Oo joined the army as a second lieutenant in 1946 and was promoted to battalion commander in 1951.
He was awarded the medal for leading operations against the Karen National Union and other armed ethnic groups, as well as the Communist Party of Burma.
He served as commander-in-chief of the army during the bloody crackdown on student protests over the funeral of former UN Secretary-General U Thant in 1974.
In 1976, in what some analysts saw as a power struggle, Tin Oo was accused of corruption and complicity in an attempted coup. He was imprisoned until he was released under an amnesty in 1980.
He was arrested again a decade later for dissident activism and spent several more years in prison and under house arrest.
He was last arrested in May 2003 when a pro-government mob attacked his and Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade in what some of their supporters said was an assassination attempt. They were released in 2010.
“When the group of terrorists approached Aung San Suu Kyi's car, Tin Oo got out and shouted orders at the terrorists, 'You guys, this is Aung San Suu Kyi's car, get out,'” said Tun Myint, who was in the motorcade.
Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo fled, but both were later arrested after dozens of others are believed to have been killed.
In 2015, the NLD won the country's first truly democratic elections, beginning a difficult transition from opposition to ruling party.
The party won a landslide victory in second-round elections in 2020, but was ousted from power in a coup the following year, sparking nationwide uprisings and a violent crackdown.
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and convicted in a series of cases apparently intended to keep her in detention indefinitely, while Tin Oo was allowed to remain in his home and continue to speak out in support of democracy.
Mr Tin Oo is survived by his wife, Dr Tin Moe Wai, now 99, and his son Than Zin Oo, whom he met while working as a doctor at the hospital where Tin Oo was being treated for battle injuries.