Stanislaus I Leszczyński

Stanislaus I Leszczyński (Stanisław Leszczyński), b 20 October 1677 in Lviv, d 23 February 1766 in Lunéville, France. Polish magnate, voivode of Poznań, and king of Poland. In 1704, with the support of the Swedish king Charles XII, he replaced the deposed Augustus II Frederick as king of Poland. As dissatisfaction with Muscovite rule increased in the Cossack Hetman state, Stanislaus’s negotiations with Hetman Ivan Mazepa (through Princess Anna Dolska) to ally with the Swedes in invading Russia culminated in a 1708 treaty. After Charles’s defeat in the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Stanislaus left Poland for France. In 1733 he attempted, in vain, to reclaim the Polish throne. His son-in-law, Louis XV of France, granted him the Duchy of Lorraine in 1738. Stanislaus maintained relations with Hetmans Pylyp Orlyk and Hryhor Orlyk.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]