Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

Maria Klementyna Sanguszko (30 March 183017 October 1903) was a Polish

noblewoman A noblewoman is a female member of the nobility. Noblewomen form a disparate group, which has evolved over time. Ennoblement of women has traditionally been a rare occurrence; the majority of noblewomen were linked to the nobility by either their ...

, heiress, and the wife of

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Alfred Józef Potocki Count Alfred Józef Potocki (, 29 July 1817 or 1822, Łańcut – 18 May 1889, Paris) was a Polish aristocrat (szlachcic), landowner, and a liberal-conservative monarchist Austrian politician and Prime Minister. Early life Count Potocki was bor ...

Biography

Maria was the only child of

Roman Sanguszko Prince Roman Adam Stanisław Sanguszko (1800–1881) was a Polish aristocrat, patriot, political and social activist. Biography Roman Sanguszko was born on 6 May 1800 in his family manor in Volhynia. The eldest of his kin, he was the heir ...

and his wife

Natalia Potocka Natalia Sanguszkowa (; 19 March 1807 – 17 November 1830) was a Polish noblewoman and member of the prominent Potocki family as the daughter of Aleksander Stanisław Potocki and his wife, Anna Tyszkiewicz. Natolin Park and Palace in Warsaw were ...

, Polish aristocrats and members of some of the wealthiest and most notable families of the former

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Her mother died soon after giving birth to her and her father was absent during her childhood as he was imprisoned from June 1831 until 1838 due to his participation in the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and travelled extensively afterwards. In order to prevent the confiscation of his ancestral lands and property during his imprisonment, Maria was given nearly everything. She was raised by her grandparents

Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko Prince Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko (1768–1844) was a Polish Szlachta, nobleman, general, military commander, diplomat and politician. Early life Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko was born in 1768 to Hieronim Janusz Sanguszko and Cecylia Usrzula Pot ...

and Klementyna Czartoryska, presumably at the

Sanguszko The House of Sanguszko is a Polish and Lithuanian noble and aristocratic family of Lithuanian and Ruthenian origin, connected to the Gediminid dynasty. Like other princely houses of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, its origins are considered m ...

family's Palace in

Slavuta Slavuta (, ; ; ) is a city in Shepetivka Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, located on the Horyn River. The city is located approximately 80 km from the oblast capital, Khmelnytskyi, at around . Slavuta hosts the adm ...

where they resided. On 18 March 1851 she married

, her cousin and a man thirteen years her senior. Despite this, their marriage seemed to be a happy one and Maria flourished in her new position as a governor's wife. She was a naturally meticulous and organised person which made her duties of setting up events like balls and banquets all the easier for her. Maria and her husband had four children: Count Roman Potocki born in 1851,

Countess Julia Potocka Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

born in 1854, Countess Klementyna Potocka born in 1856, and born in 1862, she also raised 12 year old Teresa her husband’s daughter with

Charlotte Bonaparte Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (31 October 1802 – 2 March 1839) was the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte, the older brother of Emperor Napoleon I, and Julie Clary. She was active as an artist. Life After the fall of her uncle Emperor Napoleon ...

, who later married a diamond miner named Felice Benvenuto in Milan. In the 1880s, her husband finally began construction on a new palace in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

to replace one that had been knocked down in the 1860s. Alfred would not live to see it finished, however, as he died in 1889. The

Potocki Palace, Lviv The Potocki Palace in Lviv (, ; ) was built in the 1880s as an urban seat of Alfred Józef Potocki, former Minister-President of Austria. No cost was spared to make it the grandest nobleman's residence in the city. It is located on the Copernic ...

was completed by Maria and their son Roman. She then transferred the

Potocki The House of Potocki (; plural: Potoccy, male: Potocki, feminine: Potocka) was a prominent Polish noble family in the Kingdom of Poland and magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Potocki family is one of the wealthiest and ...

family's

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Antoniny, Ukraine Antoniny (, ), formerly known as Holodky () and Antonyny (), is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Antoniny settlement hroma ...

to her younger son Jósef.

Death

In her later years, she split her time between the

Antoniny Palace Antoniny Palace () was a palace of the noble Sanguszko and Potocki families in Antoniny, Ukraine. It was destroyed during the Russian Civil War in August 1919. Today the park and various service buildings remain, such as the stables. Histor ...

in the summer and the palace in Lviv in the winter. She died in Lviv at the age of seventy-three.

Awards

* Lady of the Star-Shaped Cross Order ( :pl:Krzyż gwiaździsty)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanguszko, Maria Klementyna 1830 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Polish landowners Maria Klementyna Sanguszko 19th-century women landowners