Mila Gojsalić (also traditionally "''Mile Gojsalića''") (died 1530) is a Croatian folk heroine. According to tradition, her origins are from the village of in the

Dalmatian hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland ( hr, Dalmatinska zagora; it, La Morlacca or ) is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name ''zagora'' means "beyond (the) hills", which is a reference to the fact that it is t ...

, and she was a distant descendant of Croatian king Gojslav. She lived in time of

Ottoman wars A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...

in Croatia. In 1530, Ottoman Ahmed-pasha gathered an army of 10 000 men with a goal to conquer Poljica. He made a camp in a place called Podgrac (modern ). Mila Gojsalić volunteered to sacrifice herself and lose her virginity to the Ahmed-pasha in order to be able to infiltrate the Turkish camp and blow up the munitions stockpile, killing Ahmed-pasha and numerous officers and soldiers. That act completely surprised and confused remaining Turkish soldiers who were then overrun by people of Poljica.

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...

sculptured the statue of her, installed above the town of

Omiš Omiš (, Latin and it, Almissa) is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is wh ...

, while

Jakov Gotovac Jakov Gotovac (11 October 189516 October 1982) was a Croatian composer and conductor of classical music. His comic opera, ''Ero s onoga svijeta'' (''Ero the Joker''), Croatia's best-known opera, was first performed in Zagreb in 1935. Biograph ...

composed the opera to her honour.

August Šenoa August Ivan Nepomuk Eduard Šenoa (; originally Schönoa; 14 November 1838 – 13 December 1881) was a Croatian novelist. Born to an ethnic German and Slovak family, Šenoa became a key figure in the development of an independent literary tradi ...

also wrote about her. In her birthplace, every summer there is a cultural manifestation called ''The days of Mila Gojsalić''. Her house is still in the village and is completely renewed.

References

External links

Kulturno ljeto: DANI MILE GOJSALIĆ - Kostanje 2007.
1530 deaths People from Omiš Croatian folklore 16th-century Croatian people Year of birth unknown 16th-century Christian martyrs {{Croatia-bio-stub