Vasilisa Kozhina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1780 Sychyovsky Uyezd, Smolensk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 1840 Sychyovsky Uyezd, Smolensk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire |
| Years of service | 1812 |
| Rank | A peasant woman, A chief of a guerrilla detachment |
| Commands held | a Russian guerrilla detachment |
| Battles/wars | The Patriotic War of 1812 |
Vasilisa Kozhina (Russian: Василиса Кожина, c. 1780—c. 1840)[1] was a Russian guerrilla in the Patriotic War of 1812 who fought against the invading French Grande Armée.
Vasilisa came from Russian peasants. She was a wife of Gorshkov, a starosta (an elder) of a village of Sychyovsky Uyezd of Smolensk Governorate.
During the French invasion of Russia from Vasilisa Kozhina organized in Sychyovsky Uyezd a partisan detachment of teenagers and women. All of them were armed with scythes, pitchforks, axes, bear spears and so on. During the retreat of Napoleon's troops from Moscow her guerrillas attacked French troops, captured prisoners and handed them to Russian units.
For this feat Vasilisa Kozhina was awarded a medal and given a monetary reward. In 1813, the artist Alexander Smirnov painted her sole portrait.
In 2012, for the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 Russian World Studios contracted Russian director Dmitry Meskhiev to make a four-part series about Kozhina,[2][3] however the film was completed by Anton Sivers as Vasalisa in 2014.
