Nikola Ziković

He was born in a trading family in Gornji Matejevac near Niš, where his parents settled after coming from Vidin.

As early as 1804, as soon as he heard about the Slaughter of the Knezes (Seča knezova) Nikola joined the First Serbian Uprising and led the insurgents from his native village.

In the battle on Kamenica, Nikola was in a trench on Čegar with the Duke of Resava nahija, Stevan Sinđelić.

He fought the Turks until 1813 until the insurrection failed, and when the Second Serbian Uprising under Prince Miloš Obrenović began two years later, in 1815, Nikola immediately joined the insurgents.

After Prince Miloš reorganized the principality at the end of 1821 and appointed Joksim Milosavljević as the great serdar of the Danube region, Nikola returned to a peaceful life in Gornji Matejevac where he died in 1837.