Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?

Yangon: With her steely resolve and peaceful resistance in the face of repression, Aung San Suu Kyi remains a beacon of hope for many in Myanmar after almost five decades of military rule.

So fearful are the generals of the Nobel Peace Prize winner's popularity that they have kept the petite and softly-spoken 65-year-old locked up for 15 of the past 21 years, a prisoner in her own home.

While some see her as a figure from the past, no longer so relevant following the emergence of a new generation of pro-democracy activists, for her many supporters she represents the best chance of a better future.

Little is known about what she plans to do if freed, apart from a desire to join Twitter to reach out to supporters worldwide, but few expect her to abandon her long struggle for democracy.

Suu Kyi: Housewife to democracy icon

• 1945: Suu Kyi born in Rangoon
• Daughter of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, an independence hero assassinated in 1947
• Studied politics in New Delhi at Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) and at Oxford
• 1972: Married British academic Michael Aris
• 1988: Returned to Yangon during protests against the Army regime; helped set up the National League for Democracy (NLD)
• 1989: Placed under house arrest as martial law declared. In prison or under house arrest off and on for 15 years
• 1990: Her party wins election, military disregards result
• 1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1995: Released from house arrest, movement restricted
• 2003: Again placed under house arrest
• Aug 2009: House arrest extended by 18 months