Touby Lyfoung Scholarship

Phagna Touby Lyfoung was a visionary leader who wanted his Hmong people to live prosperously, harmoniously, and with dignity in the Kingdom of Laos. He believed that education, equal opportunity, and integration were the keys to achieving this goal. His relentless efforts led to the Hmong and other ethnic minorities being granted Lao citizenship, a step toward equality in education and other socioeconomic aspects of life. 

Born in 1917 in Nong-Het, Laos, Touby was the third son of Xiafoung Lydrapo and May Lo, a daughter of Kaitong Bliayao Lo. His grandfather, Dra Po Ly, migrated from China to Laos around year 1860. His father, Xiafoung Lydrapo, built the first classroom in 1924 and hired a Lao teacher to educate some Hmong and his children. In 1934, Touby completed his elementary education in Xiengkhouang, and in June 1939, his French Brevet d’Etudes in Vinh, Vietnam. He returned to Nong-Het to help his father with family and township administrative duties. When his father passed away in October of that year, the French administration appointed Touby as his father’s successor for the position of Tasseng (Township Chief) of Kengkhuai. 

A strong believer in freedom, Touby, together with his loyal and courageous Hmong people, led the resistance against the Japanese occupation and Vietminh invasion from 1944-1946. In 1946, the French and King Sisavangvong appointed him as Deputy Governor of the Xiengkhouang province and Chaumuong Hmong (Governor of the Hmong population), and granted the Hmong people the right to self-govern. As Chaumuong Hmong, he appointed five notable Hmong to the position of Naikong (Sub-District Chief). In the same year, King Sisavangvong bestowed the honorific title of “Phagna Damrong Ritthikai” on Touby. Phagna Touby Lyfoung then built the first communal schools in Hmong villages and opened the door to public education for the Hmong people in Laos. The first wave of Hmong teachers, nurses and military officers came from those schools. He recommended that the French allow a young Hmong man named Vang Pao to attend the prestigious military officer school in Dong Hene. In 1947, his staunch support for equal rights led to the Lao and French administration’s appointment of his younger brother, Toulia Lyfoung, to the Lao Constituent Assembly, where he successfully argued for Lao citizenship to be granted to all ethnic minorities living in the Kingdom of Laos. Only then the Hmong people of Laos felt they had a place they could finally call home. 

In 1958, Phagna Touby Lyfoung was elected Congressman of the Xiengkhouang province and Vice-President of the Lao National Assembly. From 1960 to 1962, he was appointed Secretary of State of Information, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare. He advocated the admission of Hmong students to the Lycée de Vientiane, which was the doorway to higher education. He implemented the daily delivery of information in both Hmong and Khamou languages through the Lao National Radio, which was a communication and cultural revolution. He recommended to Prince Boun Oum Na Champassak and General Phoumi Nosavanh to promote Colonel Vang Pao to General and replace General Khamkhong Bouthavong in Military Region II of Laos. Also during the war, Touby on many occasions asked the US Air America to airdrop food to Hmong refugees in Thavieng and in Padong, and to build a refugee camp at Thadkhao in Vientiane, to accommodate refugees fleeing civil war, and the resettlement area in Namhia in Sayaboury province, away from the theaters of military operations for the Hmong people.  From 1963 to 1974, Phagna Touby Lyfoung was appointed King’s Advisor by King Sisavang Vatthana and then served as the Inspector of the Administrative Affairs of Southern Laos. In April 1974, the Prime Minister Prince Souvannaphouma requested that Phagna Touby Lyfoung be part of the Government of National Reconciliation. 

In the political turmoil of spring 1975, faithful to his convictions, Phagna Touby Lyfoung decided not to flee but to stay with the majority of the Hmong who remained in the country, to help them the best he could. In November 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao overthrew the Government of National Reconciliation. Touby, along with the King, the Crown Prince, and other civilian and military high ranking officials, were sent to the communist re-education camp in northern Laos near the Vietnam border from where he never returned. 

Phagna Touby Lyfoung had a lifelong passion for literature. He enjoyed reading books and composing his own poems. His memoirs were later published by his son, Dr. Touxa Lyfoung: “Tub Npis Lisfoom, Tej Lus Tseg Cia” or “Touby Lyfoung, An Authentic Account of the Life of a Hmong Man in the Troubled Land of Laos.” 

The first Hmong to gain national prominence in Laos and one of the most honored Hmong men in Hmong history, Phagna Touby Lyfoung received the French and Lao highest honor medals for his extraordinary services to his country: Knight and then Officer of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor (1947 and 1953), French Cross of War of Theatres of Operations External with Palm (1953), French War Cross 1939-1945 with Bronze Star and Silver-Gilt Palm (1946), Lao Grand Officer of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol (1958), and Lao Medal of the Order of the Reign of King Sisavangvong. 

Phagna Touby Lyfoung is survived by 16 children and 87 grandchildren.  His three wives are deceased.  

This scholarship is presented by the Hmong American Education Fund. The scholarship seeks to financially support two dedicated Hmong-American student in the pursuit of his/her higher educational goals. The successful applicant will be awarded up to $1,000 to the choice of their college or university.