June Rose Bellamy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
June Rose Bellamy
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| ရတနာနတ်မယ် | |
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| First Lady of Myanmar | |
| In role 24 December 1976 – May 1977 |
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| President | Ne Win |
| Preceded by | Ni Ni Myint |
| Succeeded by | Ni Ni Myint (remarried) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Yadana Nat-Mei
1 June 1932 Rangoon, British Burma |
| Died | 1 December 2020 (aged 88) Florence, Italy |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Michael Bellamy Postiglione Maurice Postiglione |
| Parents | Herbert Bellamy (orchid collector) Hteiktin Ma Lat |
| Known for | great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung Mintha, ex-wife of Ne Win |
June Rose Bellamy, also known as Yadana Nat-Mei (Burmese: ရတနာနတ်မယ်), was a remarkable woman from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Her name, Yadana Nat-Mei, means "Goddess of the Nine Jewels." Born on June 1, 1932, she passed away on December 1, 2020. She was a royal princess with Australian family roots. For a short time, she held the important position of First Lady of Myanmar as the fourth wife of the country's leader, Ne Win. She was also the great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung, a significant figure in Burmese history.
Contents
Early Life and Education
June Rose Bellamy was born on June 1, 1932, in Rangoon, which was then part of British Burma. This meant Burma was under British control at the time. She came from a royal family, being the great-granddaughter of Prince Kanaung Mintha and the granddaughter of Prince Limbin.
Her mother was Princess Hteiktin Ma Lat from the Konbaung dynasty, a powerful royal family. Her father, Herbert Bellamy, was an Australian who loved collecting orchids and had lived in Burma for a long time.
June Rose went to school at St. Joseph's Convent School in Kalimpong, India, and also in Rangoon, Burma. After World War II, when she was a teenager, she won a special prize. She wrote an essay for a competition called "The World We Want," organized by the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. Her prize was a trip to the United States with 30 other students from around the world. Later, she worked as a TV host in the Philippines and also enjoyed painting.
Marriages and Life Events
First Marriage
June Rose Bellamy's first husband was Mario Postiglione. He was a doctor and an important advisor on malaria for the WHO. The WHO is a global group that works to improve health for everyone. They lived in different cities like Rangoon, Damascus, Geneva, and Manila. June Rose and Mario divorced in 1954. They had two sons together, Michael Bellamy Postiglione and Maurice Postiglione.
Second Marriage
In 1963, June Rose met Ne Win in Europe. Ne Win was the military leader of Burma at that time. He asked her to return to Burma, but she preferred living in Italy. On a later visit, he asked her to marry him. They got married in 1976, but their marriage lasted only about five months. Ne Win accused her of working for a foreign intelligence agency and they divorced.
Later Life and Contributions
After returning to Italy, June Rose Bellamy settled in Florence. She taught classes on international and Italian cooking. She also did a lot of good work helping others. She supported young Burmese students by helping them attend medical school through doctors based in Rangoon.
June Rose also wrote cookbooks, sharing her knowledge of food. One of her books, The Soul of Spice, was featured at the Turin Book Fair in 2017. She passed away on December 1, 2020, at the age of 88.
