Marie-Charles David de Mayréna, King of the Sedang

Marie-Charles David de Mayréna (31 January 1842 – 11 November 1890) was a French adventurer who became the self-proclaimed King of the Sedang in today's Vietnam.

Born in Toulon, France, into a Jewish Semitic family, Mayréna sailed to the East Indies in 1883, landing in Java to avoid a charge of embezzlement. By 1888 he had established himself as a planter in French-controlled Vietnam. The Governor-General of French Indochina entrusted Mayréna to arrange the allegiance of highland tribes in order to avoid them being subsumed by the King of Siam. Instead, Mayréna realized that some of these tribes considered themselves independent of both Siam and Annam, and were vehemently resisting their encroachment. The Kingdom of the Sedang was established on 03 June 1888 when the chiefs of the Bahnar, Rengao, and Sedang peoples elected Mayréna —who took the regnal name of Marie 1er—as their King.  

Mayréna sought to establish Sedang as an independent state, drafting a constitution, devising a flag, and founding chivalric orders to reward any support he could garner. Caught between expansive French interests in Annam (Vietnam) and a defensive Siam (Thailand), Mayréna tried to play the great powers to his advantage in order to gain international recognition for Sedang but failed to obtain any nation’s support. His overtures incensed the French, who banned him from returning to what they considered part of their Indochina possessions. 

When Mayréna offered Sedang as a protectorate to Germany, France decided to terminate Mayréna’s kingly endeavor. They conquered Sedang while pursuing Mayréna, who fled to Malaya. Although the story of the kingdom ended with Mayrena’s mysterious death in 1890 while in exile on Tioman Island (Malaya), Sedang —before being conquered by France— had been without its king for some months, and it is unclear what real control he ever exercised over his realm. Eventually, Sedang was incorporated into the French colony of Annam, and today forms part of an independent Vietnam.