Inge Sargent

Inge Sargent
Sargent,c. 1954
Queen consort ofHsipaw
Tenure	2 November 1957 – 1959
Successor	Position abolished
Born	Inge Eberhard (1932-02-23)23 February 1932 Bad Sankt Leonhard,Austria
Died	5 February 2023(2023-02-05)(aged 90) Boulder, Colorado,U.S.
Spouse	Sao Kya Seng ​ ​ (m.1953;disappeared 1962)​ Howard "Tad" Sargent ​ ​ (m.1968; died2022)​
Issue	Sao Mayari Sao Kennari
Dynasty	Hsipaw State
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Occupation	Author human-rights activist

Inge Sargent(bornInge Eberhard;23 February 1932 – 5 February 2023), also known asSao Nang Thu Sandi(Burmese:စဝ်သုစန္ဒီ), was an Austrian and American author and human-rights activist who was the lastMahadeviofHsipaw,reigning from 1957 until 1959.

Early life

Eberhard was born on 23 February 1932, inBad Sankt Leonhard,Austria. When she was six years old, the Nazisannexedher homeland, and her mother was arrested by them on three occasions.

FollowingWorld War II,Eberhard decided to study in the United States. In 1951, she received one of the first AustrianFulbright Scholarshipsand enrolled atColorado Women's College.

Queen consort

Sao Kya Sengand Mahadevi Sao Nang Thu Sandi,c. 1957

At a party for international students, Eberhard metSao Kya Seng,an engineering student fromBurmawho attended theColorado School of Mines.The couple married on 7 March 1953 at the home of a friend inColorado.Following his graduation, the couple moved to Burma. Hundreds of people had gathered at the port ofRangoonto welcome the couple. It was then that her husband revealed that he was the prince ofHsipaw.On November 2, 1957, at theHsipaw Palace,the couple was officially installed as Saohpalong (Great Lord of the Sky) and Mahadevi (Celestial Princess) of Hsipaw.

Aage Krarup Nielsen,a Danish writer who explored Hsipaw in the late 1950s, expressed in his book "The Land of the Golden Pagodas" that, "It was at first somewhat of a shock for many local people to get a young European lady as their princess but before long, their reserve melted and their Mahadevi today is admired by the entire people of Hsipaw, who regard her as one of their own."

She learned to speakShanandBurmese,and worked to improve life inHsipaw.She became involved in charitable projects such as establishing birthing clinics, teaching villagers betternutrition,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.

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

In 1962, the Burmese army staged acoupunder the leadership of GeneralNe 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 aCIAspy. 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.

Upon returning to Austria, she secured a position at the Thai embassy in Vienna, persistently working to unveil the destiny of her husband.

Later life

After living with her parents for two years, Eberhard decided to return toColoradoand she became a high-schoolGermanteacher at Centennial Junior High School andFairview High SchoolinBoulder.She retired from her teaching career in 1993.

When General Ne Win visitedViennain June 1966 for psychiatric treatment under the care of psychiatrist Dr.Hans Hoff,she went toSchloss Laudon,where Ne Win was staying. She attempted to meet with Ne Win to inquire about what had happened to her husband, Sao Kya Seng. However, Ne Win declined to meet her.

In 1968, Eberhard met and married her second husband Howard "Tad" Sargent, a scientist and expert onAntarctica,who encouraged her to write her biography. Her memoirTwilight over Burmawas published in 1994. All profits from her book are donated to Burmese refugees living near the borders of Myanmar. She says writing it was acatharticexperience: "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."A film adaptation of the book,Twilight Over Burma,was created in 2015 and starredMaria Ehrichas Eberhard.Thefilmadaptation was banned in both Myanmar and Thailand.

In the initial months of 1988, amid Burma's impending unrest, Sao Nang Thu Sandi made a return toChiang Mai,marking her first visit to Southeast Asia since 1964. Exiles from Hsipaw, residing in northern Thailand, warmly welcomed her at a Chiang Mai hotel, leaving her visibly touched by the genuine affection she received. Touched by the experience, Sao Nang Thu Sandi inquired if there was any way she could assist them in the United States. A participant highlighted that the aid provided by Washington to the Burmese military under the pretext of combating drugs was disastrous. The support ostensibly aimed at fighting drugs resulted in the suffering of poor opium farmers, while the military shielded the main traffickers. Coincidentally, someone close to her was associated with SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihan,the former US ambassador to India. Sao Nang Thu Sandi initiated the process, and through her acquaintance, Moynihan requested a comprehensive investigation into US assistance to Burma. The General Accounting Office conducted the investigation, and the findings were disclosed in a report dated September 1989, titled "Drug Control: Enforcement Efforts in Burma Are Not Effective".

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.She was the subject of documentary,The Last Mahadevi,in 1999.In 2008, she founded the Sao Thusandi Leadership Award, providing crucial support to emerging young community leaders in Shan State. She persistently wrote letters to the Burmese civilian president,Thein Sein,seeking information about Sao Kya Seng. Unfortunately, these letters were consistently ignored.

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

Books

• 1992:The Prince of Hsipaw: A True Story of Burma(ISBN9781870838610)
• 1994:Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess(ISBN9780824816285)

Films

• The Last Mahadevi(1999 documentary)
• Twilight Over Burma(2015 biographical film)