A Song and an Archival Document about Lady Maltitsa from Tarnovo

Lady Maltitsa was among the most famous people in Veliko Tarnovo before the Liberation in 1878, the owner of an elite restaurant garden in its surroundings. She was considered close to the Ottomans, but there are reports that she helped the Bulgarian Revival revolutionaries. Until now, it was believed that there were no documents about her participation in the fight for national independence. This study reviews the earlier publications on her; two archival documents are presented and examined that show different sides of her controversial personality. One of the documents contains a folk song that mentions Maltitsa. The other one, which has not been made public so far, is a draft of a letter to her and her husband, written in Vidin Prison, asking for help.