Jeanne Merkus (Batavia, 11 October 1839 - Utrecht, 1 February 1897), was a Dutch deaconess, guerilla soldier, and political activist.[1]
She was an educated deaconess and worked tending the wounded in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
Between 1873 and 1876, she was a member of the Serbian rebel guerilla of Mićo Ljubibratić, participating in fighting the Ottoman Empire in Herzegovina, dressed as a male soldier and leading soldiers in battle.[1]
She served by organizing the army medical service on the Serbian side during the Serbian–Turkish Wars (1876–1878).[1]
She was famous in the contemporary international press and referred to as the "Joan of Arc of the Balkans."[1]