Sao Nang Hearn Kham ( my, စောဝ်နန်းဟိန်ခမ်; 26 May 1916 – 17 January 2003) was the Mahadevi of

Yawnghwe Yawnghwe ( shn, ယွင်ႈႁူၺ်ႈ), known as Nyaungshwe ( my, ညောင်ရွှေ) in Burmese, was a Shan state in what is today Myanmar. It was one of the most important of the Southern Shan States. Yawnghwe state include ...

one of the most important

Shan States The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' muang'' whose rulers bore the title '' saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was fi ...

. Her husband

Sao Shwe Thaik Sao Shwe Thaik ( shn, ၸဝ်ႈၶမ်းသိူၵ်ႈ, ''Tsaw³ Kham⁴soek³''; my, စဝ်ရွှေသိုက်, ; 16 October 1895 – 21 November 1962) was a Burmese politician who served as the first president of the Un ...

was the 23d and last

Saopha Chao-Pha (; Tai Ahom: 𑜋𑜧𑜨 𑜇𑜡, th, เจ้าฟ้า}, shn, ၸဝ်ႈၾႃႉ, translit=Jao3 Fa5 Jao3 Fa5, my, စော်ဘွား ''Sawbwa,'' ) was a royal title used by the hereditary rulers of the Tai peoples of ...

of Yawnghwe and became the first

President of Burma The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current preside ...

and she became the first

First Lady of Myanmar First Lady of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is the title held by the wife of the president or the head of the state. The first lady is also the patron of the Myanmar Women Affairs. The current first lady Khin Thet Htay (spouse of preside ...

. She is an important figure in Shan history and was known as "Rebel Queen" being the leader of the Shan State War Council.

Life

She was born as Hearn Kham on 26 May 1916 in Hsenwi, Northern

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( L ...

, as the daughter of 65th

Khun Khum may refer to: *Khun (, long vowel, middle tone) is the colloquial Thai name for the Golden Shower Tree. *Khun (courtesy title) (, short vowel, middle tone) is a common Thai honorific *Khun (noble title) (, short vowel, rising tone) is a former ...

Hsang Ton Hong of

North Hsenwi North Hsenwi was a Shan state in the Northern Shan States in what is today Burma. The capital was Lashio town which was also the headquarters of the superintendent of the Northern Shan State. North Hsenwi, with an area of 6330 m², had a populatio ...

. Her brother would be the 66th and last Saopha of the state. Sao Nang Hearn Kham was the first wife of the last ruler of Yawhghwe Saopha Sao Shwe Thaik, who became the first

and with whom she had eight children. Together with her husband she participated in the 1946–1947

Pang Long Agreement The Panglong Agreement ( my, ပင်လုံစာချုပ် ) was reached in Panglong, Southern Shan State, between the Burmese government under Aung San and the Shan, Kachin, and Chin peoples on 12 February 1947. Aung Zan Wai, Pe ...

. In post-independence Burma she became an MP for the constituency of Hsenwi between 1956 and 1960 and became known for her active role within the parliament under the administration of the prime minister

U Nu Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pro ...

. Her husband was arrested in the Burmese coup d'état in March 1962 by the Revolutionary Council headed by General

Ne Win Ne Win ( my, နေဝင်း ; 10 July 1910, or 14 or 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma ...

and one of her sons, who was 17 at that time, was killed in the military coup, apparently the only casualty on the day of the disturbances. She fled with her family to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

in October 1963 after her husband had died in prison in November 1962. While in exile she participated in the independence struggle of the Shan State. In 1964 Sao Nang Hearn Kham, together with her son Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe, helped to form the Shan State War Council (SSWC) and the

Shan State Army The Shan State Army ( my, သျှမ်းပြည်တပ်မတော်; abbreviated SSA) was one of the largest insurgent groups that fought government forces in Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). The SSA was founded in 1964 after the m ...

(SSA), becoming Chairwoman of the SSWC. Sao Nang Hearn Kham died on 17 January 2003 in exile in Canada at the age of 86.Burma’s first President’s wife passed away
/ref>

Hso Khan Pha Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe ( my, စဝ်ခမ်းဖ, aka Tiger; 15 April 1938 – 4 October 2016) was a prince of Yawnghwe. He was a son of Sao Shwe Thaik, the Saopha of Yawnghwe and Sao Nang Hearn Kham, the Mahadevi (consort). He was ...

, one of her eight children took up her cause of fighting for the liberation of the

Shan people The Shan people ( shn, တႆး; , my, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ), also known as the Tai Long, or Tai Yai are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in t ...

References

1916 births 2003 deaths Yawnghwe People from Shan State Politics of Myanmar Burmese people of Shan descent {{Myanmar-bio-stub

Life

See also

References