{{Short description|Last queen consort of Hsipaw (r. 1957–1959)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Inge Sargent | image = File:Inge Eberhard.jpg | caption = Sargent, {{c.|1954}} | succession = Queen consort of Hsipaw | consort = yes | reign = 2 November 1957 – 1959{{r|"Irrawaddy"}} | predecessor = | suc-type = | successor = ''Position abolished'' | dynasty = Hsipaw State | birth_name = Inge Eberhard | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|02|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Bad Sankt Leonhard, Austria | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|2|5|1932|02|23|df=y}} | death_place = Boulder, Colorado, U.S. | occupation = {{hlist|Author|human-rights activist}} | religion = Theravada Buddhism | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Sao Kya Seng|7 March 1953|1962|reason=disappeared}}|{{marriage|Howard "Tad" Sargent|1968|9 June 2022|end=died}}}} | issue = {{ubl|Sao Mayari|Sao Kennari}} }}
'''Inge Sargent''' (born '''Inge Eberhard'''; 23 February 1932 – 5 February 2023), also known as '''Sao Nang Thu Sandi''' ({{langx|my|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==
Eberhard was born on 23 February 1932, in Bad Sankt Leonhard im Lavanttal, Austria.<ref name="a" /> Her father was a forest ranger.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Vieregge |first=Thomas |date=2023-02-10 |title=Die "himmlische Prinzessin" aus dem Kärntner Lavanttal |url=https://www.diepresse.com/6249504/die-himmlische-prinzessin-aus-dem-kaerntner-lavanttal |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Die Presse |language=de}}</ref> When she was six years old, the Nazis annexed her homeland, and her mother was arrested by them on three occasions.<ref name="a">{{cite web |date=23 June 2016 |title=INGE SARGENT: BURMA'S AUSTRIAN PRINCESS |url=https://www.insideasiatours.com/insideburma/blog/2016/06/23/inge-sargent-burma-austrian-princess/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918021542/https://www.insideasiatours.com/insideburma/blog/2016/06/23/inge-sargent-burma-austrian-princess/ |archive-date=18 September 2017 |accessdate=18 September 2017 |work=InsideAsia Tours |language=en}}</ref><ref name="b">{{cite web |last=Kargl |first=August |date=15 March 2016 |title=Plötzlich Prinzessin |url=https://www.oeamtc.at/autotouring/reise/inge-sargent-shan-prinzessin-burma-12015806 |accessdate=18 September 2017 |work=oeamtc |language=de}}</ref>
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.<ref name="a"/><ref name="b"/>
== Queen consort == [[File:Ruler of Hsipaw.jpg|thumb|left|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huanokk |first=Withaya |date=2015-10-08 |title=Posthumous Award Revives Memories of a Shan Prince |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/culture/posthumous-award-revives-memories-of-a-shan-prince.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=The Irrawaddy |language=en-US}}</ref> 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 as they arrived on the ''SS Warwickshire''. It was then that her husband revealed that he was the prince of Hsipaw, a princely state in Burma and close to the border with China, which he had previously concealed from her.<ref name=":2" /> On November 2, 1957, at the Hsipaw Palace, the couple was officially installed as Saohpalong (Great Lord of the Sky) and Mahadevi (Celestial Princess) of Hsipaw.<ref name="a" /><ref name="b" /><ref>{{cite web |last=O’Connor |first=Brennan |date=25 April 2016 |title=The last prince of Hsipaw |url=https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-last-prince-of-hsipaw |accessdate=18 September 2017 |work=Frontier Myanmar |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sai |first=Awn Murng |date=9 October 2015 |title=Former Prince of Hsipaw Honored in Colorado |url=https://bnionline.net/feature/item/911-former-prince-of-hsipaw-honored-in-colorado.html |accessdate=18 September 2017 |work=Burmese News International |language=en}}</ref>
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."{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Sao Kya Seng.jpg|thumb|Sao Kya Seng and Inge Eberhard (Sao Nang Thu Sandi) with their two daughters, {{c.|1955}}]]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 (called "Hsipaw Maternity and Child Welfare Society"<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Achariyaprasit |first=Jiraporn |date=2009-01-01 |title=Shan royal ladies' roles in life narratives |url=https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/arv/vol22/iss1/7/ |journal=Asian Review |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=125–136 |doi=10.58837/CHULA.ARV.22.1.6 |issn=2697-4495|doi-access=free }}</ref>), teaching villagers better nutrition, and starting a trilingual school. She was also selected to be the president of the Mother and Child Association and her work reduced the infant mortality rate.<ref name=":3" /> 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.<ref name="a" /><ref name="b" />
In 1962, the Burmese army staged a coup under the leadership of General Ne Win. The day before the coup, Sao Kya Seng had attended Parliament in Rangoon and had flown to Taunggyi to visit his dying sister.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Benedict |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9zeCgAAQBAJ&dq=Inge+Eberhard&pg=PA11 |title=Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads - Revised Edition |date=2016-01-04 |publisher=Rider Books |isbn=978-1-84604-446-5 |pages=11 |language=en}}</ref> He 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. Her bodyguards and drivers were beaten with rifle butts.<ref name=":4" /> During these years, she worked tirelessly to discover what happened to her husband, eventually learning that he had been killed in prison. In 1964, she fled with her daughters to Austria with the help of an Austrian embassy official and forged passports.<ref name="a" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="b" />
Upon returning to Austria, she secured a position at the Thai embassy in Vienna, persistently working to unveil the destiny of her husband.<ref name=":2" /> Her daughters experienced racism in Austria.<ref name=":2" />
== Later life == After living with her parents for two years, in 1966 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.<ref name="a" /><ref name="b" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://burgenland.orf.at/news/stories/2738130/|title=Interview with Inge Sargent|work=burgenland.orf.at|date=22 October 2015|accessdate=18 September 2017|language=de}}</ref>
When General Ne Win visited Vienna in June 1966 for psychiatric treatment under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Hans Hoff, she went to {{ill|Schloss Laudon|de|Schloss 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.<ref name="Irrawaddy"/>
In 1968, Eberhard met and married her second husband Howard "Tad" Sargent, a scientist and expert on Antarctica,<ref>{{cite news |title=Howard Sargent Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailycamera/name/howard-sargent-obituary?id=35274135 |access-date=8 February 2023 |work=Daily Camera |date=19 June 2022 |via=legacy.com}}</ref> who encouraged her to write her biography. Her memoir ''Twilight over Burma'' was published in 1994. All profits from her book were 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."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Inge Sargent |url=http://myhero.com/Inge_Sargent |last=Beck |first=Jennifer |date=3 January 2019 |website=The My Hero Project}}</ref> An Austrian film adaptation of the book, ''Twilight Over Burma'', was created in 2015 and starred Maria Ehrich as Eberhard and Daweerit Chullasapya as Sao Kya Seng.<ref>{{cite news |last=Saw |first=Yan Naing |date=22 December 2015 |title=Former Saopha of Shan State Revisited in New Film |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-issues/former-saopha-of-shan-state-revisited-in-new-film.html |work=The Irrawaddy}}</ref><ref name="Irrawaddy" /> The film adaptation was banned in both Myanmar and Thailand.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Jonah |date=15 June 2016 |title=Twilight Over Burma: Myanmar censors pull film from festival |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36535629 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Thailand joins Myanmar in banning movie |url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Thailand-joins-Myanmar-in-banning-movie-30289984.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707181909/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Thailand-joins-Myanmar-in-banning-movie-30289984.html |archive-date=July 7, 2016 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=The Nation}}</ref>
In the initial months of 1988, amid Burma's impending unrest, Sao Nang Thu Sandi made a return to Chiang 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 Senator Daniel 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".<ref name="Irrawaddy"/>
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.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unaboulder.org/programs/international-human-rights-award/|title=International Human Rights Award|work=UNA-USA Boulder County Chapter|date=|accessdate=18 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> She was the subject of documentary, ''The Last Mahadevi'', in 1999.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 August 2017|title=The Tragedy And Hope Of A Palace|url=https://www.brudirect.com/news.php?id=32174}}{{Retrieved|access-date=2023-02-14}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Irrawaddy">{{cite news|last=Lintner|first=Bertil|author-link=Bertil Lintner|date=7 February 2023|title=Austrian-Born Shan Princess Inge Eberhard Dies|url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/obituaries/austrian-born-shan-princess-inge-eberhard-dies.html|work=The Irrawaddy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207153427/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/obituaries/austrian-born-shan-princess-inge-eberhard-dies.html|archive-date=7 February 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Books== * 1992: ''The Prince of Hsipaw: A True Story of Burma'' ({{ISBN|9781870838610}}) * 1994: ''[https://archive.org/details/twilightoverburm00sarg Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess]'' ({{ISBN|9780824816285}})<ref>Charney, Michael W. (1996) "[https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/6182 Review of Inge Sargent,'Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess']." ''Asian Affairs'' 27:1. pp. 105-106.</ref>
==Films== *''The Last Mahadevi'' (1999 documentary)<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywood.com/movies/the-last-mahadevi-59146616/|title=The Last Mahadevi |work=Holly Wood|date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918064113/https://www.hollywood.com/movies/the-last-mahadevi-59146616/ |archive-date=18 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> *''Twilight Over Burma'' (2015 biographical film)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ho |first=Tamara C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=91gEEAAAQBAJ&dq=Inge+Eberhard&pg=PA55 |title=Romancing Human Rights: Gender, Intimacy, and Power between Burma and the West |date=2015-01-31 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-5392-1 |pages=55–56 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sargent, Inge}} Category:1932 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century American writers Category:20th-century Austrian women writers Category:21st-century Austrian women writers Category:American human rights activists Category:American women human rights activists Category:Austrian emigrants to the United States Category:Austrian human rights activists Category:Austrian women activists Category:Colorado Women's College alumni Category:People from Hsipaw Category:Politics of Myanmar Category:Queens consort Category:Writers from Boulder, Colorado