Countess Maria Zofia Czartoryska née ''Sieniawska'' (15 April 1699–21 May 1771) was a Polish

szlachcianka The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

(noblewoman). By birth she was member of powerful

Sieniawski family 200px, Adam Sieniawski 200px, Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski The Sieniawski family (plural: Sieniawscy, feminine form: Sieniawska) was a Polish szlachta family. They were magnates in the First Republic of Poland. Their properties were inherited ...

and by marriage she was member of House of Dönhoff and

House of Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; lt, Čartoriskiai) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian- Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dyna ...

Early life

Countess Maria Zofia was daughter of Count Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski and Princess Elżbieta Lubomirska.

First marriage

She married firstly Count Stanislaus Ernst von Dönhoff in 1724. She was his second wife. He was previously married to his cousin, Countess Johanna Katharina von Dönhoff (1686-1723). Maria Zofia's stepdaughter Countess Konstanza von Dönhoff later married Prince Janusz Aleksander Sanguszko.

Inheritance

After her father's death in 1726, Maria Zofia inherited his Ruthenian estates including 35 towns, 235 villages and Berezhany fortress, she was also the only heir of her first husband's estates and of her mother's fortune.

Second marriage

Among the candidates to the hand of one of the wealthiest women in Europe were Prince Charles de Bourbon-Condé, Count of Charolais, supported by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

even invited Maria Zofia to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

); Portuguese

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

Dom Manuel de Bragança supported by the Habsburgs (proposed as the next King of Poland, due to the tenets of the

Löwenwolde's Treaty The Treaty of the Three Black Eagles, or Treaty of Berlin, was a secret treaty signed in September and December 1732 between the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire and Prussia. It concerned the joint policy of the three powers regarding to the ...

Jan Klemens Branicki Count Jan Klemens Branicki (also known as Jan Kazimierz Branicki; 21 September 1689 – 9 October 1771) was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Hetman, Field Crown Hetman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1735 and 1752, and Great Crown ...

Franciszek Salezy Potocki Franciszek Salezy Potocki (1700–1772) was a Polish nobleman, diplomat, politician and knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded on August 3, 1750 in Warsaw. Potocki was the wealthiest magnate of his time and the owner of large propert ...

Jan Tarło Jan Tarło may refer to the following Polish noblemen: * Jan Tarło (d. 1550), standard-bearer of Lwów * Jan Tarło (d. 1572), cup-bearer of the Crown, starost of Pilzno * Jan Tarło (1527–1587), voivode of Lublin, starost of Łomża and Pilzno * ...

and

August Aleksander Czartoryski Prince August Aleksander Czartoryski (9 November 1697, Warsaw4 April 1782, Warsaw) was a member of the Polish nobility (), magnate. He is the founder of the Czartoryski family fortune. Life August became major-general of the Polish Army in 1729 ...

, who eventually won the competition, full of duels and speech encounters due to support of Augustus II, as the latter was afraid of increase of power of his opponents. She married August Aleksander Czartoryski on July 17, 1731 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

References

1698 births 1771 deaths Maria Zofia Maria Zofia 18th-century Polish women 18th-century Polish nobility {{Poland-noble-stub