Sirma Voyvoda (1776–1864) was a

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 ...

hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

(irregular fighter). Disguised as a man, she participated in the

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tact ...

movement in

Ottoman Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia, the area that now makes up North Macedonia, was part of the Ottoman Empire for over five hundred years, from the mid-14th century to 1912. However, the Ottomans themselves did not keep any "Macedonia" as an administrative unit. ...

between 1791 and 1813. In 1856/1857, as an 80-year-old woman, the Bulgarian educator

Dimitar Miladinov The Miladinov brothers ( bg, Братя Миладинови, ''Bratya Miladinovi'', mk, Браќа Миладиновци, ''Brakja Miladinovci''), Dimitar Miladinov (1810–1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830–1862), were Bulgarian poets ...

met her in Prilep. In their collection ''

Bulgarian Folk Songs 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 ...

'' the

Miladinov brothers The Miladinov brothers ( bg, Братя Миладинови, ''Bratya Miladinovi'', mk, Браќа Миладиновци, ''Brakja Miladinovci''), Dimitar Miladinov (1810–1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830–1862), were Bulgarian poets ...

recorded a song about Sirma Voyvoda. Per the note that Dimitar Miladinov left under this song № 212, which refers to Sirma Vojvoda, she married a Bulgarian Mijak from Krushevo. She was killed by Turks in 1864. Sirma Voyvoda is recognized as a patriotic heroine also in what is today

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

.Македонска енциклопедија, том 2, МАНУ, Скопие, 2009, стр. 1364.

References

18th-century Bulgarian women 19th-century Bulgarian women 18th-century Bulgarian people 19th-century Bulgarian people Bulgarian rebels Female wartime cross-dressers Women in 18th-century warfare Women in 19th-century warfare 1776 births 1864 deaths Women in European warfare Rebels from the Ottoman Empire {{Bulgaria-mil-bio-stub