Revolutionary Tonka Obretenova

Tonka Toncheva Obretenova, known as Baba Tonka, was a Bulgarian national revolutionary and heroine.

Tonka Obretenova was born in 1812 in the village of Cherven in the Ruse region, into a Bulgarian family whose parents were Toncho Postavchiyata and Minka Toncheva. In 1831 she married the Ruse merchant Tiho Obretenov, with whom she had twelve children, of whom five boys and two girls survived.

Tonka Obretenova became actively involved in the organised national liberation struggle, providing substantial organisational, moral and financial support to the Ruse Local Revolutionary Committee. She was an associate and confidante of Vasil Levski. Her home became a safe refuge and organisational centre for revolutionary activists. Her children Petar, Angel, Nikola and Georgi Obretenov also participated in the struggle for national liberation ideals.

Petar and Angel Obretenov were members of the detachment of Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha. Nikola Obretenov was a central figure in the Ruse Local Revolutionary Committee and participated in Hristo Botev's detachment. Georgi Obretenov served in the detachment of Stoil the Voivode during the Stara Zagora Uprising. Her daughter Petrana Obretenova sewed the flag of the Chervena Voda insurgent detachment in 1875.

Tonka's daughter Anastasia Obretenova was married to the revolutionary, writer and publicist Zahari Stoyanov. His “Notes on the Bulgarian Uprisings” provides further information about Tonka Obretenova's personality and revolutionary activities.

Tonka Obretenova is described as a cheerful woman with a playful sense of humour. In difficult times, however, she showed determination and an ability to earn the Turks' respect. Tonka Obretenova's personality and activities are recorded in the history of the Bulgarian revolutionary struggle. A village in Popovo Municipality, Targovishte Province, and a bay on the Antarctic island of Livingston are named in her honour. The mathematics secondary school in Ruse also bears her name.