CYNTHIA GORNEY, BASED ON PAMELA TOLER’S WOMEN WARRIORS: AN UNEXPECTED HISTORY. MONICA SERRANO, NGM STAFF. KELSEY NOWAKOWSKI. SOURCES: ADRIENNE
MAYOR; LINDA HEYWOOD; BETH ANDERSON; WARWICK BALL; HEATHER HENNES; LINDA DEMERTZIS-BOUBOULIS; VERONICA TILLER; SARAH NELSON; PETER ALESHIRE
1582-1663
NJINGA
WEST AFRICAN QUEEN
Njinga used both guerrilla
warfare and diplomacy as
she defended her kingdoms,
Ndongo and Matamba,
against the Portuguese.
Nearly 75 when she last led
forces into battle, she would
prepare soldiers decades
younger by leading them in
a rigorous arrows-and-spears
war dance exercise.1771-1825
LASKARINA BOUBOULINA
GREEK WAR COMMANDER
Ship owner and Greek
nationalist Bouboulina secretly
commissioned a battleship,
assembled a fleet, and then
commanded it in the war
for independence from the
Ottoman Empire. Credited
with a successful naval attack
on a key Ottoman port, she
was nicknamed by her troops
Kapetanisa, Lady Captain.1780-1862
JUANA AZURDUY DE PADILLA
SOUTH AMERICAN REBEL
Azurduy joined her husband,
Manuel Padilla, as an early
19th-century opponent of
Spanish domination. They
raised a rebel army and fought
together in what’s now Bolivia
and Argentina; she commanded
male soldiers, earned a repu-
tation for battlefield daring,
and continued in action after
her husband died.1847-1868
NAKANO TAKEKO
JAPANESE SAMURAI
Takeko led 30 samurai women
against imperial soldiers
during a 19th-century battle
in northern Japan. She and
her forces used naginata pole
weapons and swords to kill sol-
diers armed with guns. Dying
from a bullet wound, she asked
that her head be removed
and buried so no enemy could
make a trophy of it.CA 1840-1889
LOZEN
APACHE WARRIOR
Described as “a shield to her
people” by her older brother,
the Chiricahua Apache war
leader Victorio, Lozen regu-
larly joined late 19th-century
war and raiding parties in the
American Southwest. She is
said to have excelled at bat-
tle strategy, medicinal skills,
and stealing enemy horses
during raids.1892-1973
MILUNKA SAVIĆ
SERBIAN WAR HERO
Recipient of multiple
medals for combat bravery,
Savić initially enlisted in the
First Balkan War by disguising
herself as a man. As was com-
mon for women fighting in
disguise, she was discovered
when she was wounded—hit
by a Bulgarian grenade. But
she refused to leave combat
and served in three wars.