Rayna Popgeorgieva Futekova ( bg, Райна Попгеоргиева Футекова), better known as Rayna (aka Raika)

Knyaginya , or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependin ...

(Райна Княгиня), aka "Queen of the Bulgarians" ( Panagyurishte,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, 6 January 1856 OS –

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Kingdom of Bulgaria, 29 July 1917) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n teacher and revolutionary born in Panagyurishte who is famous for having sewn the flag of the April Uprising of 1876. Rayna-knyaginya

The flag and the uprising

When she was 20 and working as a head teacher in the Panagyurishte girls' school, she was asked to sew the flag for the April Uprising by

Georgi Benkovski Georgi Benkovski ( bg, Георги Бенковски) (1843 – 12 May 1876) was the pseudonym of Gavril Gruev Hlatev (Гаврил Груев Хлътев), a Bulgarian revolutionary and leading figure in the organization and direction of the Bu ...

, which she accepted. The lion on the flag was drawn by Stoyan "Banenetsa" Karaleev after the pattern of the lion printed on the cover of the

Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee The Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee ( bg, Български революционен централен комитет, ''Balgarski revolyutsionen tsentralen komitet'') or BRCC was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation founded in 186 ...

's organization chart and the letters were drawn by Ivancho Zografa. Besides the '' Свобода или смърт'' (''Svoboda ili smart'', ''Freedom or death'') inscription, the letters '' П'' and '' О'' (standing for ''Панагюрски окръг'', the Panagyurishte revolutionary district) were added at the bottom. On 22 April, the day of the flag's sanctification by priests from neighbouring villages, Rayna sewed

tassel A tassel is a finishing feature in fabric and clothing decoration. It is a universal ornament that is seen in varying versions in many cultures around the globe. History and use In the Hebrew Bible, the Lord spoke to Moses instructing him to ...

s prepared during the night to it. The flag's size is 2 by 1.5 m, it has two sides and is hemmed by a strip of gold lace. On the day the uprising was proclaimed, she waved the flag together with Georgi Benkovski. After it was brutally crushed by Ottoman troops, she was captured, then numerous times raped, molested, beaten and allowed only to eat bread and water for more than a month in the

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

prison. For the commemoration of the uprising's 25th anniversary, Rayna Knyaginya prepared three copies of the original flag, two of them surviving until today and the other one being destroyed during the bombings of Sofia in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Later life

After her time in the prison, she managed to reach

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

through

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

with a forged passport, where she studied medicine for three years and became a maternity nurse. There she wrote her autobiography, the first book about the uprising, that was first published in Russian and then translated into

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

in 1934. While in Moscow, she managed to arrange the upbringing of 32 orphans from Panagyurishte, including her younger brother, through a ladies' charity committee. Rayna Knyaginya was then invited by Kliment of Tarnovo to become a teacher in Tarnovo. She returned to Panagyurishte three years later to marry Vasil Dipchev, the mayor of the town. They moved to Plovdiv, where Dipchev, an extreme

Russophile Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), History of Russia, Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Anti-Russian se ...

, was unable to find a job under the

Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...

government of Stefan Stambolov. The two had five sons — Ivan, Georgi, Vladimir, Petar and Asen. Rayna also adopted a girl by the name of Gina. Vasil Dipchev was elected a deputy to the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1888 and the family moved to

. Dipchev died in 1898 as a consequence of the Black Mosque beatings that followed the assault on Stambolov, leaving Rayna with six children, the oldest of which was only 13 years old. She worked in the Sofia quarters of Orlandovtsi and Malashevtsi, maintaining strong ties with the family of Hristo Botev until her death on 29 July 1917, then 61 years old.

Honours

Rayna Knyaginya Peak Rayna Knyaginya Peak ( bg, връх Райна Княгиня, vrah Rayna Knyaginya, ) is a peak of elevation 680 m in western Bowles Ridge, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Surmounting Perunika Glacier to the south a ...

, a peak on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after her.Rayna Knyaginya PeakSCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
/ref> * A Bulgarian

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

with her image was issued in 2017.

Notes

External links

*
A collection of Bulgarian folk songs dedicated to Rayna Knyaginya at Liternet.bg
(in Bulgarian)
The descendants of Rayna Knyaginya
(in Bulgarian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knyaginya, Raya 1856 births 1917 deaths People from Panagyurishte Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian educators April Uprising of 1876 19th-century Bulgarian women 19th-century Bulgarian people