Revolutionary Maria Sirkova

Maria Sirkova, born around 1840 in Lovech, had family roots in the village of Balgarene in the Lovech region. She was the daughter of Todor Ilchev Kostov, who settled in Lovech after completing his training in soap-making.

Maria married Nikola Sirkov, known as Halacha, an active member of the Lovech Local Revolutionary Committee of the Internal Revolutionary Organisation (IRO). She and her husband Nikola repeatedly sheltered Vasil Levski in their home and managed to save his archive after his arrest. Nikola Sirkov died in April 1873.

After Lovech's liberation from Ottoman rule, Maria married for a second time, to Nikola Tsvyatkov, an associate of Vasil Levski. She gave the most important part of Levski's archive to Zahari Stoyanov for scholarly research, but it was subsequently not returned to her. Maria preserved Levski's personal belongings, including a sabre and dagger, which are now held in the Vasil Levski Museum in Lovech. She shared her memories with researchers such as Zahari Stoyanov, Professor Paraskev Stoyanov, Hristo Ivanov (Golemiya), Dimitar Pashkov and Todor Lukanov.

A full-day kindergarten in Lovech was named Maria Sirkova in recognition of her dedication and work.