Stanislaus II August, King of Poland (1732-1798)
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Stanislaus II August was the last king of Poland from 1764 to 1795. He was born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski on 17 January 1732 in Wołczyn, Belarus and was the son of Stanisław Poniatowski (1676-1762), Castellan of Kraków, and Konstancja Czartoryska (1700-1759). He spent a number of years in St. Petersburg and was, for several years, the lover of Catherine, the future Empress of Russia.
Stanislaus was elected king of Poland in 1764 through the influence of Catherine the Great, succeeding Augustus III. He was king during the three partitions of Poland, and after the third partition in 1795, was forced to abdicate. He died 12 February 1798 in St. Petersburg.
On 20 December 1764 Stanislaus August confirmed all former privileges to the Mennonites of Elbing, Marienburg, Bärwalde, and Tiegenhof.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV.
Mannhardt, W. Die Wehrfreiheit der Altpreussischen Mennoniten. Marienburg, 1863: 91.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 610. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
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MLA style: Thiessen, Richard D. "Stanislaus II August, King of Poland (1732-1798)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. October 2007. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 08 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S7249.html>
APA style: Thiessen, Richard D. (October 2007). "Stanislaus II August, King of Poland (1732-1798)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 08 November 2009 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S7249.html>
