Maria Lebstuck was born on August 15, 1830. She was born into a wealthy German merchant family in Zagreb. Lebstuck was the daughter of a Croatian merchant of substance, had been sent to live with her uncle in Vienna, Baron Balthasar Simunich, a brigadier in the Austrian imperial army.
Maria Lebstuck fought in a male disguise in the revolution of 1848 against the Austrian Empire. When she was eighteen, Lebstuck took refuge in the shop of a friendly shoemaker to avoid an excited street mob in Vienna (13 March 1848). While there, she learned about the "revolution against absolutism in Europe." She sold her earrings to the shoemaker's apprentice in return for his trousers and boots and, with the shoemaker's writ identifying her as his apprentice Charles, she immediately joined the Death's Head Legion of General Giron.
Despite her delicate appearance, she participated in many skirmishes; her adventures took her from Austria to Hungary, where General Dembinszky commissioned her as a lieutenant for shooting three Austrian officers in combat. As Lieutenant Charles, Lebstuck later enlisted in General Gorgey's Hussar Regiment, participating in the attack on Buda Castle, then in the hands of the Austrian general Heintzi. During the siege, Lebstuck fired incendiary bullets with an accuracy that attracted the attention of Lieutenant Jozsef Jonak. Apparently Jonak and Lebstuck became friends, and she revealed her true identity to him.
General Gorgey realized the truth about "Lieutenant Charles," whereupon he put Lebstuck in jail for spying. Lajos Kossuth, the prime minister, personally intervened on behalf of Lebstuck.
What is known is that after 13 August 1849, when General Gorgey surrendered at Vilagos, Maria Lebstuck was captured and imprisoned. In consideration of her pregnant condition, she was deported to Zagreb. She then moved to Hungary. Lebstuck lived for many years after the revolutionary upheavals of 1848.
In July 1849, Maria Lebstuck married. She was captured while in Budapest and imprisoned. Her husband died in prison, where she gave birth to a son.
