DR Hla Pe, a former professor of Myanmar language, literature and culture at the University of London, died at the age of 98 in the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine in the early morning of July 31.

Born in 1913 in Khayè village in the district of Mawlamyine, he learned basic literacy at the village monastery before starting his formal education at the state high school in Mawlamyine, where he passed the 10th grade exam with five distinctions in 1931.

U Hla Pe pursued his studies at Rangoon University, receiving a bachelor of arts (with honours) in Myanmar Studies. He then went to London on a scholarship program, where he earned an education diploma in 1939 and a PhD in Myanmar Literature in 1944, both from the University of London.

From 1942 to 1944 U Hla Pe worked as a news critic, translator and announcer for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). From then until 1948, he was an assistant editor (and later associate editor) of a team that compiled a Myanmar-English dictionary.

Dr Hla Pe lectured under- and postgraduate students in Myanmar literature and culture at the School of Oriental and African Studies under the University of London. He was promoted to associate professor in 1955 and to professor in 1966.

Upon his retirement in 1980, Dr Hla Pe returned home to live with his wife Daw Than Mya in Mawlamyine.

In his lifetime, Dr Hla Pe published more than 60 academic theses and books. He was a regular contributor to the local monthly magazine Atwe Amyin, for which he wrote a series of articles on his experiences during lecture tours to foreign countries.

The topics of his books ranged from Myanmar literature to travelogues of trips to China. His bilingual book A Myanmar Buddhist: His Life from the Cradle to the Grave (2004) has been compared to British author George Scott’s 1882 book The Burman: His Life and Notions.