Ludwika Maria Poniatowska


Countess Ludwika "Luds" Maria Poniatowska was a Polish noblewoman, known as the sister of the King of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

Life

She was the daughter of Stanisław Poniatowski and Konstancja Czartoryska.
In 1745, she married Jan Jakub Graf Zamoyski, by whom she had an only daughter. The couple separated after the birth of their daughter in 1750.
In 1763, her brother was elected king of Poland. She and her sister Izabella Poniatowska both opposed her brother's suggested marriage to princess Sophia Albertina of Sweden.
In the spring of 1791, she and her daughter visited Paris during a difficult period in Poland, which attracted bad publicity.
On 7 January 1795, she, her daughter and family joined king Stanisław in Grodno, and remained by his side during the Third Partition of Poland. Reportedly, she and her daughter, along with their coterie and urged by the Russian N. Repnin, contributed to persuade the king to sign his abdication on 25 November, as they feared that his refusal would lead to a Russian confiscation of their property and their ruin.
On 9 September 1801, she and her daughter donated the Kazanowski Palace as a residence for the future Louis XVIII of France. She spent her last years in Vienna.