Cause of death Cancer | Name Louisa Craig Nationality American | |
 | ||
Born 10 March 1941 ( 1941-03-10 ) Rangoon, British Burma Alma mater Tufts UniversityColumbia University Spouse(s) Lin Htin (1964-1965)Glenn Craig (1967-) Children Charmaine CraigColleen CraigBradford Craig | ||
Parents Naw Chit Khin, Saw Benson | ||
Louisa Charmaine Benson Craig (sometimes spelled Luisa Benson; 10 March 1941 – 2 February 2010) was a Burmese-born two-time beauty pageant winner and Karen rebel leader of Portuguese Jewish and Karen ancestry who was widely known for becoming Burma's first Miss Universe contestant in 1956 and 1958.
Contents
Following a US education, Craig returned to Karen State and married Lin Htin, a commander of the Karen National Liberation Army(KNLA), in 1964. After her husband's death in 1965, Craig led the Fifth Brigade, but fell out with the Karen National Union leadership following a power struggle with Bo Mya.
As a "Most Wanted" independence warrior leader, Louisa was urged by her people in 1967 to flee Burma to spare her life. She emigrated to the United States by marrying Glenn Campbell Craig, former classmate of her youthful overseas studies at Tufts University, and a scion of a Mayflower family, who had reconnected with her as a U.S. Naval officer requesting assignment to Asian waters near Karen State.
After emigrating, Louisa Benson Craig earned a master's degree in international affairs at Columbia University and worked to advocate for Burmese democracy and resettlement efforts for Burmese refugees in the United States. In 2004, she was named a plaintiff in a landmark human rights case against Unocal for profiting from the Burmese military's alleged human rights abuses by operating the Yadana gas field.
Family
Louisa's father, Saw Benson (also known as Moses Ben-Zion Koder), was an entrepreneur descended from the Koder family, a prominent Cochin Jewish business clan in South India's Cochin (now Kochi) on his paternal side, and the Leynado family, a Sephardic Jewish family on his maternal side. He converted to Christianity and in 1939 married an ethnic Karen woman, Naw Chit Khin.
Louisa bore three children to Glenn Craig, who became an entrepreneur helping found an international school publications enterprise out of California. Their daughter perpetuating Louisa's middle name, Charmaine Craig, is an actress who, like her husband Andrew Winer, is a novelist and university professor of literature. Louisa and Glenn's second daughter is a physician, and their son is a musician who also works in public radio. Karen relatives of Louisa also emigrated to California.
In Perpetuity
Louisa's legacy and memory live on not only as a heroine among the Karen people but also in continued awareness-raising by others moved by Karen courage and tenacity to hold onto ancient independence, history, culture, and identity.