By The Associated Press

Aung San Suu Kyi's life has been marked by family tragedy, world travel and a political mission that prompted her to choose Myanmar's democracy struggle over her children, whom she left behind in England.

Here are the key events in Suu Kyi's life that aides and biographers say shaped the stoic, pragmatic, eloquent woman whose sacrifices and struggles have earned her a Nobel prize and international acclaim.

- FAMILY LIFE

- June 19, 1945: Born in Yangon, then called Rangoon. She is the third child and only daughter of national independence hero Gen. Aung San and Daw Khin Kyi, also a prominent public figure.

- July 1947: Aung San and six members of his interim government are assassinated by rivals. Suu Kyi is 2.

- 1952: Suu Kyi's favorite brother, Aung San Lin, drowns in a pond inside the family's compound.

- 1960: After finishing high school, Suu Kyi leaves for further study in New Delhi, where her mother is Burma's ambassador.

- 1964-1967. Suu Kyi studies philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University's St. Hugh's College, where she meets future husband and Himalayan scholar Michael Aris.

- 1969-1971: Suu Kyi moves to New York for postgraduate studies at New York University but postpones academic career when a family friend helps get her a job at the United Nations.

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Events in the life of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi