Jadwiga Sapieżyna, née Zamoyska (1806–1890) was a Polish noblewoman and philanthropist.

Life

Jadwiga was born on 9 July, 1806, as the sixth child of Zofia Czartoryska née Fleming and her husband

Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski Count Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski of Herb Jelita (13 January 1775 – 2 April 1856) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic), politician, landowner, and patron of arts. By birth he was a member of the House of Zamoyski. Biography Stanisław was the ...

. She received a thorough education. Her mother wrote and published for her a handbook called ''Rady dla córki'' ("advice for a daughter"). The book covered such topics as what it means to be a pious woman and a good wife. The latest edition of the book was published in 2002. Jadwiga married

Leon Sapieha Leon Sapieha (1803–1878), sometimes written as Leon Sapiega, was a Galician noble ('' szlachcic'') and statesman. Biography Leon was born and educated in Warsaw, and studied law and economics in Paris and Edinburgh from 1820 to 1824. He began ...

on 19 December 1825. In the spring of 1830, she travelled with her husband to Paris, where she made a good impression at the royal court of Charles X. After the fall of 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 the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...

, in which her husband took part, she lived frugally with him in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and Piskorowice. She became an advocate of hydrotherapy of Vincenz Priessnitz in hope of curing her ailing children, five of which died in infancy and another two when they were sixteen and twenty. Jadwiga devoted her life to philanthropy. In

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, she led the Towarzystwo Dobroczynności św. Wincentego a Paulo charity association. She also founded orphanages for children whose parents had been killed in the

Galician slaughter The Galician Slaughter, also known as the Galician Rabacja, peasant uprising, Peasant Uprising of 1846 or the Szela uprising (german: Galizischer Bauernaufstand; pl, Rzeź galicyjska or ''Rabacja galicyjska''), was a two-month uprising of pov ...

, which later were transformed into an institution led by nuns and a children's hospital with a capacity of 120 beds. Additionally, Sapieżyna founded a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

for beggars with a ward for " fallen girls". She also created a charity association in

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

. To support her institutions, she constantly ran fund-raising events in Lviv. Those who were ill-disposed towards her claimed she conducted all the charity work with the money from fund-raising, and none from her own. During the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

, Sapieżyna founded a hospital for the wounded insurgents in

Krasiczyn Krasiczyn (; uk, Красічин, Krasichyn) is a village in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Krasiczyn. The village has a population of 440 ...

and supported hospitals in Lviv and

Cieszanów Cieszanów ( uk, Тішанів or Цішанів or Чесанів, ''Tishaniv ''or'' Tsishaniv ''or'' Chesaniv''; yi, ציעשאנאָוו ''Tsyeshanov'') is a town in Lubaczów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland. As of December 2021, ...

. In February 1864, she helped her son Adam Stanisław Sapieha break out of prison. After the death of her husband, she gradually ceded the leading role in her charity organisations to her daughter-in-law, Jadwiga. She died on 29 March, 1890, in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapiezyna, Jadwiga

Jadwiga Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "figh ...

19th-century Polish nobility 1806 births 1890 deaths Polish philanthropists