Jefimija ( sr-Cyrl, Јефимија, ; 1349–1405), secular name Jelena Mrnjavčević ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Мрњавчевић, link=no, or ), was a Serbian noblewoman, wife of Jovan Uglješa Mrnjavčević, considered to be the first female Serbian poet.

Biography

Her father was Caesar Vojihna, member of the collateral branch of

Nemanjić dynasty The House of Nemanjić ( sr-Cyrl, Немањић, Немањићи; Nemanjić, Nemanjići, ) was the most prominent Serbian dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages. This princely, royal and imperial house produced List of Serbian monarchs, twelv ...

. Jefimija's mother, Caesaraea Jelena, after the death of her husband became an Orthodox nun under the name Jevpraksija (Eupraxia) and in 1358 made a considerable donation to the Koutloumousiou monastery.''The medieval aristocracy on Mount Athos'',
p. 102
/ref> Jefimija's ''Lament for a Dead Son'' and ''Encomium of

Prince Lazar Lazar Hrebeljanović ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Хребељановић; – 15 June 1389) was a medieval List of Serbian monarchs, Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empir ...

'' are famous in the canon of medieval Serbian literature. Her lament for her beloved son was carved on the back of the

diptych A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...

, (two-panelled icon representing a virgin and Child) which Teodosije, Bishop of

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

, had presented as a gift to the infant Uglješa at his baptism. The infant child Uglješa Mernjavčević Despotović lived only until the age of 4 and is buried next to his maternal grandfather, Caesar Vojihna of Drama, in the

Hilandar monastery The Hilandar Monastery (, , , ) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbs, Serbian Serbian Orthodox Church, Orthodox monastery there. It was founded in 1198 by two Ser ...

. The piece of art has Jefemija's lament engraved on its back. Apart from being considered the first Serbian female poet, Jefimija was also as a skilled needlewoman and an engraver, whose works were saved and preserved until today.

Encomium of Prince Lazar

File:Jefimija - aer, kraj XIV veka.jpg, Embroidered cross standard File:Jefimijina-zavesа.jpg, Embroidered iconography File:Pohvala knezu Lazaru.jpg, Poem

Issue

Jefimija and her husband Despot Jovan Uglješa, member of the ruling House of Mrnjavčević had, at least three children, two boys and one girl, who was the only one to reach adulthood: * Tvrtko Mrnjavčević Despotović (d. 1366) * Uglješa Mrnjavčević Despotović (d. 1371), buried in the Hilandar monastery next to Vojihna, his maternal grandfather * Eupraxia Mrnjavčević Despotović, became a nun in 1405

Legacy

She is included in ''

The 100 most prominent Serbs ''The 100 most prominent Serbs'' () is a book containing the biographies of the hundred most important Serbs as compiled by a committee of academicians at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The committee members were Sava Vuković (bishop) ...

''.

References

Sources

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