Sampho Tsewang Rigzin

Sampho Tsewang Rigzin during a struggle session amidst the Cultural Revolution, August 1966.

Sampho Tsewang Rigzin was born in 1905 to the Sampho noble family of the Tibetan aristocracy and inherited the title of Taiji.[1] A native of Lhasa, he received homeschooling and local private school education before being sent to India to study artillery technology.[1] He began his political career at the age of 14, assuming his first post within the Tibetan government in 1919.[1]

Following the 1951 annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, he joined the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.[2] In 1952 he became a member of the board of directors for Lhasa Primary School, his first position as a member of the Communist Party. In 1956 he served in the standing committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region and in the following year he was appointed as a Kalön of the Kashag, the highest office in the province.[2] He was promoted to shaojiang, the Chinese equivalent of major general, in 1958 and appointed deputy commander of the Tibetan Military Region.[3] When the Kashag was abolished in 1959, he became Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government.[2]

During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, he was attacked by Tibetan dissidents while driving near Norbulingka, resulting in serious bodily injuries.[2] He later served as a member of the National Defense Commission and was elected to the 4th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1965.[2][4]

During the Cultural Revolution, he was accused of "organizing an armed rebellion, maintaining illicit relations with foreign countries, and being against the [Communist] Party and against the proletarian dictatorship."[3] He was subsequently dressed in clothing traditionally worn by Tibetan aristocrats and photographed while being publicly denounced and humiliated in a struggle session in August 1966. His wife was also denounced alongside him, and forced to carry a tray containing various religious instruments while wearing heavy gold and silver pearls.[3]

He died in 1973; his wife died shortly after.[3]