BA SWE, U

born Oct. 7, 1915, Onbinkwin, Burma [now Myanmar] leader of the Burma Socialist Party and prime minister from June 1956 to March 1957. Early in his youth Ba Swe developed strong anti-imperialist sentiments. While at the University of Rangoon (Yangn), he was strongly influenced by Marxist ideas and was secretary of the powerful Students' Union in 193738. He helped to found the Burma Revolutionary Party, including a paramilitary branch, the Steel Corps. During World War II, Ba Swe served in the pro-Japanese government of a nominally independent Burma but later joined the underground Anti-Fascist Organization and worked in the resistance against the Japanese. After the war he participated in the popular-front government of the Burma Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League and became general secretary of the Socialist Party, which remained loyal to the government after the communists went underground in 194648. Ba Swe was minister of defense in U Nu's government and served for a year as prime minister when U Nu stepped down in 1956.