Lazar Kujundžić

Lazar Kujundžić-Klempa (Serbian Cyrillic: Лазар Кујунџић: 1880 – May 25, 1905) was a Serbian Chetnik commander (vojvoda) who was active in Old Serbia and Macedonia. He was born in Orahovac, near Prizren. He finished the teacher school of the Orthodox seminary in Prizren. He was a teacher in Prizren and Kičevo. He participated in the Fight on Čelopek, when the Chetniks destroyed the Turkish forces. After the fight, he did not want to flee into Serbia but continued to operate in Old Serbia with commanders Savatije Milošević and Živojin Milovanović. On the Feast of the Ascension, his band appeared in Velika Hoča. They were received by Albanian Lanja Ukin who had given them his word (besa) that nothing would happen to them in his house, however, he immediately alarmed the Turks in Orahovac who surrounded them. They set the house on fire. The Chetniks shot back and sung Chetnik songs. The Turks brought Lazar's mother to recognize him for them, but she did not, in order to save her village and family. During the Interwar period, he was hailed as a great hero. He entered the literature, and count Ivo Vojnović wrote Lazarevo Vaskrsenje; Milosav Jelić wrote Majka Kujundžića, etc.