Rayna Knyaginya

Rayna Popgeorgieva Futekova , better known as Rayna Knyaginya (Райна Княгиня), aka "Queen of the Bulgarians". She was a Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, famous for sewing the flag of the April Uprising of 1876.

Biography She was born on January 6, 1856, in Panagyurishte, during the Ottoman Empire, and died on July 29, 1917, in Sofia, during the Kingdom of Bulgaria. She was born into the family of the priest Georgi Futekov (Георги Футеков) (1830–1876). Her mother was Nona Nalbantska (1835–1923). The family had six children: Raina, Atanas, Maria, Vasil, Pena, and Zahari.

She graduated from the Girls' School in Stara Zagora.

When she was 20 and working as a head teacher in the Panagyurishte girls' school since 1874,

The day the uprising was declared in April 1876, she raised the flag alongside Georgi Benkovski. Following the harsh suppression of the revolt by Ottoman forces, she was captured, subjected to repeated assaults and rapes, beaten, and deprived of food except for bread and water for over a month in the Plovdiv prison.

After the intervention of European diplomats, Raina was released and sent to Moscow. She managed to reach Moscow through Istanbul with a forged passport. She studied medicine there for three years and became a midwife, making her the first woman in Bulgaria to earn this qualification. While in Moscow, she wrote her autobiography in 1876, the first book about the uprising, which was originally published in Russian and subsequently translated into Bulgarian in 1934, and published posthumously in 1935.

Three years later, she returned to Panagyurishte to marry Vasil Dipchev, the mayor of the town, and moved to Plovdiv. The two had five sons — Ivan, Georgi, Vladimir, Petar and Asen. Among them, four would become officers in the Bulgarian army: General Ivan Dipchev, Georgi Dipchev, Vladimir Dipchev, and Colonel Asen Dipchev (Иван Дипчев). The fifth one tragically died at the age of 15 while playing with his father's gun, accidentally shooting himself. Rayna also adopted a girl by the name of Gina.

She died at the age of 61 in Sofia on July 29, 1917.

Honours Rayna Knyaginya Peak, a peak on Livingston Island in Antarctica is named after her. A Bulgarian postage stamp with her image was issued in 2017.