Stanisław Poniatowski ( 1676 – 1762 ) Stanisław Poniatowski ( September 15 , 1676 August 29 , 1762 ) was a Polish - Lithuanian military commander , diplomat , and noble . Throughout his career , Poniatowski served in various military offices , and was a general in both the Swedish and Polish - Lithuanian militaries . He also held numerous civil positions , including those of " podstoli " of Lithuania and Grand Treasurer of the Lithuanian army in 1722 , voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731 , regimentarz of the Crown Army in 1728 , and castellan of Kraków in 1752 . Throughout his lifetime , he served in many " starost " positions . Poniatowski was also involved in Commonwealth politics , and was a prominent member of the Familia , a faction led by the Czartoryski family . On a number of occasions he was in service of Stanisław Leszczyński , the principal rival of Augustus II for the throne of Poland . Having served under Leszcyński as a military officer and envoy during the Great Northern War , Poniatowski later embraced the Russian - supported Augustus . Subsequently during the War of the Polish Succession , he returned , with the majority of the Familia , to his earlier allegiance . He later effected a reconciliation with Augustus III , and eventually became one of the new king ' s chief advisors . Poniatowski ' s fifth son , Stanisław August Poniatowski , reigned as the last king of Poland from 1764 until 1795 , when he was deposed as a result of the Third Partition of Poland by the Russian Empire , the Kingdom of Prussia , and the Holy Roman Empire . His grandson , Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski , was a Polish general and later a Marshal of the First French Empire , serving under Napoleon I . Biography . Early life . Poniatowski was born on September 15 , 1676 , in the village of Chojnik , part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship . He was the son of Franciszek Poniatowski and Helena Niewiarowska , though rumors regarding his parentage claimed that he was the son of Hetman Jan Kazimierz Sapieha by an unknown Jewish woman , later adopted by Franciszek . He received elementary education in Kraków , at either the Kraków Academy or at the Nowodworski School . At 13 , he was sent to Vienna , capital of the Holy Roman Empire where he spent two years , and afterward traveled to Serbia , then a province of that empire . There , he volunteered to join Imperial forces campaigning against the Ottomans in the Great Turkish War . He served as an adjutant to Michał Franciszek Sapieha , and later commanded a company of cuirassier s . He participated in the Battle of Zenta in 1697 . After the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699 , which ended the war , he returned to Lithuania . Upon his return , he wed Teresa Woynianka - Jasieniecka , but their marriage ended abruptly with her death not long afterward . The union , however , raised his social status . In 1700 , he participated in the Lithuanian Civil War as a supporter of the Sapieha family , fighting in the Battle of Olkieniki . Here , he was captured , but managed to escape , and he later served as Sapieha ' s emissary to Charles XII , king of Sweden . The Great Northern War and subsequent Swedish service . In 1702 , Swedish forces invaded the Commonwealth as part of the Great Northern War , which had begun in 1700 between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia . Augustus II , king of Poland and Elector of Saxony , was an ally of the Russian tsar Peter I . Augustus ' s forces were defeated , and the king himself was forced back to Saxony . He was replaced by Charles with Stanisław Leszczyński , a Polish nobleman and count of the Holy Roman Empire . Poniatowski , serving as a negotiator between the Wielkopolska Confederation and Charles XII , took the side of Leszcyński and distanced himself from the Sapiehas , formerly his patrons . In 1708 , Leszcyński appointed Poniatowski his personal representative to Charles XII . He participated in the Battle of Holowczyn that year , and served as an aide to Charles XII during his exile in the Ottoman Empire after the Battle of Poltava in 1709 . Here , he worked to establish an alliance between the Ottomans and the Swedes , aiming to bring the Ottomans into the war against Russia . Due to diplomatic efforts on the part of the French , aligned with Sweden , the Ottomans began to campaign against the Russians in 1710 . With this change in Ottoman foreign policy came the dismissal of Çorlulu Ali Pasha , Grand Vizier of Ahmed III . His successor , Köprülü Numan Pasha , was an acquaintance of Poniatowski and had been a supporter of an anti - Russian shift in Ottoman politics . Poniatowski accompanied the Ottomans during the Pruth River Campaign , but was dissatisfied with the Treaty of the Pruth , which saw the withdrawal of the Ottomans from the war . His attempts to prolong and inflame the conflict failed , resulting in a loss of his status in the Empire and his eventual departure from it in 1713 . Poniatowski did not return to Poland , as Lesczyński had been forced to retreat to Swedish Pomerania upon the return of Augustus in 1709 . With the support of Russian forces , Augustus had forced Lesczyński from the throne and had retaken the crown in that year . Instead , Poniatowski entered the service of Sweden , serving as a diplomat for both Charles XII and Lesczyński . He was later involved in mediation attempts between Lesczyński and Augustus , and also joined the Swedish army in various campaigns , being wounded during one in 1716 . During the course of his diplomatic activities , he traveled throughout Europe , including to such countries as Prussia , France , and Spain . For his service to Charles XII , he received the position of the governor of the Palatinate - Zweibrücken , then in personal union with Sweden . Later years : Polish politician and magnate . Upon Charles ' s death in 1718 , he continued to serve Leszczynski as a diplomat . In 1719 he was briefly imprisoned in Copenhagen , and requested official leave from the Swedish government , which he received that year , thus ending his service as a Swedish diplomat . He returned to the Commonwealth , where he used the title of a general of cavalry . On 14 September 1720 he married Princess Konstancja Czartoryska ; this marriage brought him significant wealth . Over the next few years , he became increasingly involved in the creation of the Familia political faction , and most of his ensuing actions had the goal of increasing the Familia ' s political power . On 5 December 1722 he received the office of Podstoli of Lithuania ( " podstoli litewski " ) in 1722 , and 16 December , Grand Treasurer of Lithuanian Army ( " podskarbi wielki litewski " ) , and became increasingly allied with August II On 20 December 1724 he received the military rank of General of the Lithuanian Army ( " generał lejtnant wojsk litewskich " ) . In 1726 he became the Knight of the Order of the White Eagle . He was also promised the position of Grand Crown Hetman by August II , receiving in 1728 the rank of a Crown regimentarz . During a period in which no Crown hetmans were appointed , he acted as " de facto " commander of the Polish - Lithuanian army . He enjoyed support from the military , but his forays into politics gained him significant opposition among the szlachta , led by the Potocki family . He became the voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731 . After August II ' s death in 1733 , he rekindled his old ties with Leszczyński , but made some attempts to secure his own election to the throne . Eventually , however , he decided to grant Leszczyński his full support , doing so during the convocation sejm of 1733 . He again served as Leszczyński ' s diplomat during the following War of the Polish Succession . In 1734 , he switched sides and joined the supported Augustus III . After several years of distrust , August III started treating Poniatowski as one of his major advisers . Over the next few years , throughout the 1740s , he and familiar supported plans for reform and strengthening the Commonwealth , however most of them have failed due to liberum veto disrupting the Sejm proceedings . Those failures likely resulted in the his apathy , and he became much less active on the political scene in the 1750s . On 6 June 1752 he received the office of castellan of Kraków . Near the end of his life , Poniatowski was among the richest magnates in the Commonwealth , with the value of his estates estimated at about 4 million zloty s . He died in Ryki on 29 August 1762 , shortly after having fallen while walking , suffering an injury . Family . He was the son of Franciszek Poniatowski ( 1640 / 16501691 – 1695 ) , " łowczy podlaski " in 1680 and " cześnik wyszogrodzki " in 1690 , and his wife Helena Niewiarowska , who he had married in 1673 or 1674 . His older brother Józef Poniatowski ( 1674after 1731 ) was a " generał wojsk koronnych " and married Helena Otfinowska , without issue . His younger siblings were Michał Jacenty Poniatowski , a Dominican , and Zofia Agnieszka Poniatowska , a Carmelitan Abbess in Kraków . He married firstly shortly after 1701 and divorced Teresa Woynianka - Jasieniecka , who died after 1710 , without issue , and secondly Princess Konstancja Czartoryska on September 14 , 1720 . They had eight children . He was the father of the last King of Poland , Stanisław II August ( Poniatowski ) , who was crowned in 1764 . He had two other sons , who died unmarried and without issue : Franciszek Poniatowski ( 1723 - 1749 / 1759 ) , canon and provost in the Cathedral of Kraków ( " kanonik i proboszcz katedralny krakowski " ) , chancellor of Gniezno in 1748 , and Aleksander Poniatowski ( 1725 - killed in action on June 29 , 1744 ) , " adiutant of Karl von Lothringen " , and two daughters , Ludwika Maria Poniatowska and Izabella Poniatowska .