Joanna Grudzińska (17 May 1791,

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

- 17 November 1831,

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

) was a Polish noble, a Princess of Łowicz and the second wife of

Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia Konstantin Pavlovich (; ) was a grand duke of Russia and the second son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. He was the heir-presumptive for most of his elder brother Alexander I's reign, but had secretly renounced his c ...

, the ''de facto'' viceroy of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. This marriage cost Constantine the crown of Russia.

Biography

Joanna was the eldest of three daughters of Count Antoni Grudziński, Grzymała coat of arms (1766-1835), the last owner of the town of

Chodzież Chodzież () is a town in northwestern Poland with 17,976 inhabitants as of December 2021, seat of the Chodzież County in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Geography Chodzież is located in the northern part of Greater Poland (western Poland), i ...

and his wife Marianna Dorpowska,

Leliwa coat of arms Leliwa is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several hundred szlachta families during the existence of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and remains in use today by many of the descendants of these families. The ...

(1757-1810). Grudzińska was known for her beauty. From 1815, she had a relationship with Grand Duke Constantine of Russia whom she married as his second wife on 27 May 1820. Constantine was previously married to

Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (23 September 1781 – 12 August 1860), also known as Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia (), was a German princess of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (after 1826, the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) ...

, who left him in 1801. In order to give approval for his marriage to Joanna, Constantine's brother Tsar Alexander I required him to forfeit his rights to the throne of Russia in favor of their younger brother Nicholas I. The secrecy of this decision, known only to a very close circle in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, contributed to the

Decembrist revolt The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I. Alexander's brother and heir ...

of 1825 that followed Alexander's death. After the marriage on 8 July 1820, Alexander styled Joanna ''Princess of Lovich''. A

Russian Imperial Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

named in her honour (', Княгиня Лович) was launched in 1828 and served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

fleet during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

and the

Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) The Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 resulted from the Greek War of Independence of 1821–1829; war broke out after the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II closed the Dardanelles to Russian Empire , Russian ships and in November 1827 revoked the 18 ...

. By some considered a traitor, Joanna remained faithful to her husband even after 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. ...

in which he fought against his Polish subjects. Her sister Maria Antonina was married to Gen. Dezydery Chłapowski, one of the most notable Polish commanders during the Uprising; another sister Teresa married Count Wiktor Felix Szoldrski (1817-1885), who served as an officer of Russian tsar's

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...

. Constantine died of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

in June 1831, shortly before their planned evacuation to Saint Petersburg. Joanna delivered his body to Saint Petersburg, and died the same year. She was buried in

; in 1929 her remains were exhumed and reburied in the grave of her sister and Gen. Chłapowski in Rąbin near

Leszno Leszno (, , ) is a historic city in western Poland, seat of Leszno County within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Leszno is a former residential cit ...

. Her life was fictionalized in the Polish film '' Duchess of Łowicz'' ().

References

* Essays by Joanna Grudzinska in French and Russia

*

Władysław Bortnowski Władysław Bortnowski (12 November 1891 – 21 November 1966) was a Polish historian, military commander and one of the highest ranking generals of the Polish Army, generals of the Polish Army. He is most famous for commanding the Pomorze Army ...

, ''Wielki Książę Konstanty i Joanna Grudzińska'', Wyd. Łódzkie 1981. *

Jan Czyński Jan Kazimierz Czyński (1801–1867) was a Polish independence activist, lawyer by education, writer and publicist, fighter for the Jewish emancipation, emancipation of the Jews, trade supporter, utopian socialist, and Polish Jacobins, radica ...

, ''Cesarzewicz Konstanty i Joanna Grudzińska, czyli Jakubini polscy'', Warszawa 1956. 1799 births 1831 deaths People from Poznań 19th-century Polish nobility Morganatic spouses of Russian royalty {{Poland-noble-stub