Inge Sargent
Sargent, c. 1954
Queen consort of Hsipaw
Tenure2 November 1957 – 1959[1]
SuccessorPosition abolished
BornInge Eberhard
(1932-02-23)23 February 1932
Bad Sankt Leonhard, Austria
Died5 February 2023(2023-02-05) (aged 90)
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Spouse
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1953; disappeared 1962)​
  • Howard "Tad" Sargent
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1968; died 2022)​
Issue
  • Sao Mayari
  • Sao Kennari
DynastyHsipaw State
ReligionTheravada Buddhism
Occupation
  • Author
  • human-rights activist

Inge Sargent (born Inge Eberhard; 23 February 1932 – 5 February 2023), also known as Sao Nang Thu Sandi (Burmese: စဝ်သုစန္ဒီ), was an Austrian and American author and human-rights activist who was the last Mahadevi of Hsipaw, reigning from 1957 until 1959.

Early life

Sao Kya Seng and Inge Eberhard (Sao Nang Thu Sandi) with their two daughters, c. 1955

Eberhard was born on 23 February 1932, in Bad Sankt Leonhard, Austria. When she was six years old, the Nazis annexed her homeland, and her mother was arrested by them on three occasions.[2][3]

Following World War II, Eberhard decided to study in the United States. In 1951, she received one of the first Austrian Fulbright Scholarships and enrolled at Colorado Women's College.[2][3]

Queen consort

Sao Kya Seng and Mahadevi Sao Nang Thu Sandi, c. 1957

At a party for international students, Eberhard met Sao Kya Seng, an engineering student from Burma who attended the Colorado School of Mines. The couple married on 7 March 1953 at the home of a friend in Colorado. Following his graduation, the couple moved to Burma. Hundreds of people had gathered at the port of Rangoon to welcome the couple. It was then that her husband revealed that he was the prince of Hsipaw and that she was the mahadevi (consort).[2][3][4][5]

She learned to speak Shan and Burmese, and worked to improve life in Hsipaw. She became involved in charitable projects such as establishing birthing clinics, teaching villagers better nutrition, and starting a trilingual school. After nine years as rulers of Hsipaw, the couple had two daughters, Sao Mayari and Sao Kennari. The couple's altruistic efforts quickly made them two of Southeast Asia's best-loved rulers.[2][3]

In 1962, the Burmese army staged a coup under the leadership of General Ne Win. Sao Kya Seng was arrested and imprisoned, and Inge and her two daughters were put under house arrest for two years on suspicion of her being a CIA spy. During these years, she worked tirelessly to discover what happened to her husband, eventually learning that he had been killed in prison. She fled with her daughters to Austria with the help of an Austrian embassy official.[2][3]

Later life

After living with her parents for two years, Eberhard decided to return to Colorado and she became a high-school German teacher at Centennial Junior High School and Fairview High School in Boulder. She retired from her teaching career in 1993.[2][3][6]

In 1968, Eberhard met and married her second husband Howard "Tad" Sargent,[7] who encouraged her to write her biography. Her memoir Twilight over Burma was published in 1994. All profits from her book are donated to Burmese refugees living near the borders of Myanmar. She says writing it was a cathartic experience: "Before I wrote the book I used to have nightmares of running with my two little girls while bullets flew past us. But since finishing the book, the nightmares have ended."[8] A film adaptation of the book, Twilight Over Burma, was created in 2015 and starred Maria Ehrich as Eberhard.[9][1] The film adaptation was banned in Myanmar.[10]

In 1995, Sargent and her husband established the Burma Lifeline Foundation, a charity that aimed to raise funds to help those fleeing the military regime in Burma. In 2000, she was awarded the International Human Rights Award for her continued support for ethnic minorities and for the founding of the Burma Lifeline Foundation.[8][11] She appeared in a documentary, The Last Mahadevi, in 1999.[12][13]

Sargent died at home in Boulder, Colorado, on 5 February 2023, at age 90.[1]

Books

  • 1992: The Prince of Hsipaw: A True Story of Burma (ISBN 9781870838610)
  • 1994: Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess (ISBN 9780824816285)

Films

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lintner, Bertil (7 February 2023). "Austrian-Born Shan Princess Inge Eberhard Dies". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "INGE SARGENT: BURMA'S AUSTRIAN PRINCESS". InsideAsia Tours. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Plötzlich Prinzessin". oeamtc (in German). 15 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "The last prince of Hsipaw". Frontier Myanmar. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Former Prince of Hsipaw Honored in Colorado". Burmese News International. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Interview with Inge Sargent". burgenland.orf.at (in German). 22 October 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Howard Sargent Obituary". Daily Camera. 19 June 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via legacy.com.
  8. 1 2 Beck, Jennifer (3 January 2019). "Inge Sargent". The My Hero Project.
  9. ↑ "Former Saopha of Shan State Revisited in New Film". The Irrawaddy. 22 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Twilight Over Burma: Myanmar censors pull film from festival". BBC News. 15 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "International Human Rights Award". UNA-USA Boulder County Chapter. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  12. 1 2 "The Last Mahadevi". Holly Wood. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "The Tragedy And Hope Of A Palace". 19 August 2017.Retrieved 2023-02-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.