Sofija Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Софија Јовановић; 1895–1979) was a Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and the First World War.[1]
Sofija Jovanović | |
|---|---|
 Jovanović c. 1912 | |
| Born | 1895 |
| Died | 1979 (aged 83–84) |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Serbia |
| Years of service | 1912–1918 |
| Battles / wars | Balkan Wars, World War I |
Life
editSofija Jovanović was born in 1895 in Belgrade. Her father was a butcher from Dorćol. After the Annexation Crisis of 1908, the organization Narodna Odbrana was founded in Belgrade, which recruited and equipped volunteers and formed Chetnik detachments for the upcoming liberation wars. She managed to convince them to let her join a Chetnik unit during both Balkan Wars,[2]
She joined the Serbian Army under the male name Sofronije Jovanović immediately upon the start of World War I and the first attack of Austria on Serbia. In July 1914, as part of the Srem Volunteer Detachment, she commanded the first group of Serbian fighters who crossed the Sava to Srem to reconnoiter enemy positions and cut telephone wires to Zemun, interrupting the Habsburg communications.[1][3] She then took part in the battles of the Drina and Kolubara.[3] In 1915 she fought in Belgrade in October 1915 against the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. She survived the Serbian army's retreat through Albania (winter 1915–16). She then fought with the Serbian army during the breakthrough of the Salonika front and the subsequent liberation of Serbia and Belgrade in November 1918.[1]
She was nicknamed La Jeanne d'Arc Serbe (The Serbian Joan of Arc) by French reporters.[4][5] She was wounded in the war, lost part of her foot and became disabled. She was awarded 13 decorations for her heroism.[1]
See also
edit- Chetniks in the Balkan Wars – Serbian paramilitary units during the Balkan Wars
- Milunka Savić – Serbian war heroine
- Antonija Javornik – Serbian war heroine, nurse and sergeant
- Flora Sandes – First World War soldier and nurse (1876–1956)
- Leslie Joy Whitehead – Canadian female soldier
- Women in the military – Women participating in military activities
References
edit- ^ a b c d kraljevina 2018.
- ^ RS 2020.
- ^ a b Snodgrass 2023, p. 304.
- ^ Potholm 2021, p. 33.
- ^ Pavlović, Mihailo B. (1988). Francuzi o Srbima i Srbiji. Narodna knjiga. ISBN 978-86-331-0101-1.
Sources
edit- "The first Serbian warrior - Sofija Jovanović". kraljevina (in Serbian). 2018-06-22.
- RS, Military Shop (2020-10-14). "Srpska heroina Sofija Jovanović". Military Shop online prodaja (in Serbian).
- Potholm, C.P. (2021). Hiding in Plain Sight: Women Warriors Throughout Time and Space. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5381-6272-9.
- Snodgrass, M.E. (2023). Women Warriors in History: 1,622 Biographies Worldwide from the Bronze Age to the Present. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-9305-7.
External links
edit- "Srpske amazonke i ratnice - neustrašive žene heroji Prvog Svetskog rata i večite heroine naroda Srbije". October 2012.
