Elżbieta Szydłowska, married surname ''Grabowska'' (1748 – 1 June 1810), was a member of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

, a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

and possibly the morganatic wife of the last King of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

Biography

Elżbieta Szydłowska was a daughter of

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

Teodor Kajetan Szydłowski,

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

Lubicz coat of arms Lubicz (''Luba, Lubow, Łuba'') is a Polish nobility coat of arms. History Year of creation around 1190, known from the seal from 1348. The river called Drwęca bore the name Lubicz in the earlier times. Above that river in 1190 there was a bat ...

(1714–1792), and his wife, Teresa Witkowska,

Nowina coat of arms Nowina () is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several '' szlachta'' families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The original clan consisted of only 24 families. History Nowina is one of the oldest Polish heraldic marks ...

(1722–1778). In 1768 she married a Polish noble,

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Jan Jerzy Grabowski Jan Jerzy Grabowski (before 1767 – 1789) of the Topór coat of arms was a Polish noble, general (from 1782), marshal of the Słuck Confederation (1767). He was twice married: first to Joanna Gruszczyńska and secondly to Elżbieta Szyd� ...

(died 1789). Some of the children of this marriage are thought to have actually been children of the last

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

king, Stanisław August Poniatowski. In 1789, she became a widow and possibly entered into a secret,

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

with the King, remaining known at

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

as his ''

maîtresse-en-titre ''maîtresse-en-titre'' () was the chief royal mistress of the King of France. The title came into use during the reign of Henry IV and continued through the reign of Louis XV. It was a semi-official position which came with its own apartme ...

''. However,

Wirydianna Fiszerowa Wirydianna Fiszerowa (born Wirydianna Radolińska, using the Leszczyc coat of arms, later Wirydianna Kwilecka) (1761 in Wyszyny - 1826 in Działyń) was a Polish noblewoman best known for her memoirs, which mention her life in pre- and post-pa ...

, a contemporary who knew her, reported that tales of this marriage only circulated after Poniatowski's death, and were spread about by Elżbieta herself, but were not generally believed. She was thought to have exercised some influence on the king during his reign perceived as negative, which made her unpopular. In 1795, King Stanisław abdicated following the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

, and lived in Grodno under Russian watch until, in 1796, Paul I of Russia invited him to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Elżbieta, with her two sons, Stanisław and Michał, took the king to Saint Petersburg to care for him there, and she lived with him until his sudden death in 1798. Afterwards, she returned to Warsaw, then under

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n rule following the Partitions, where she became a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

ess of the ''

Tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...

'' there. She died in Warsaw on 1 June 1810, survived by four of her children. She had three sons and two daughters with the king, and their second son, Michał Grabowski, distinguished himself in combat, eventually becoming a general in the army of the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

Issue

Her children were: * Stanisław * Michał * Casimir * Aleksandra (13 April 1771 – 12 May 1789), who married Franciszek Salezy Krasicki in 1787 * Izabela Grabowska (1776–1858), who married Walenty Faustyn Sobolewski in 1795 * Constance

References

* H. P Kosk generalicja polska t. 1 Oficyna Wydawnicza "Ajaks" Pruszków 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Szydlowska, Elzbieta Mistresses of Stanisław August Poniatowski 19th-century Polish nobility 1748 births 1810 deaths 18th-century Polish nobility Morganatic spouses Szydłowski family