Maria Piłsudska

Maria Piłsudska née Koplewska (1865-1921) was the first wife of Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski, and the first lady of Poland during his term as the Chief of State.

She was born in 1865 in Wilno to Konstanty Koplewski, a well-known medic. After finishing her gymnasium she moved to St. Petersburg where she studied at the Bestużewscy Family Courses. There she met Marian Juszkiewicz, a young railway engineer, whom she married in 1883. However, the marriage was not happy and soon they divorced.

In 1892 she met Józef Piłsudski. After seven years of friendship, they got married on July 15, 1899, in a village of Paproć Duża near Łomża. Since Maria was a divorcee, both she and Piłsudski formally converted to protestantism. Soon afterwards they settled in Łódź, where her husband continued his revolutionary activities. However, in February 1900 both were arrested when a secret printing house was discovered in their flat. Maria was released from prison soon afterwards as a "victim of love", but Piłsudski was kept in Warsaw Citadel. After he managed to escape, both moved to Kraków in Galicia.

In May 1906 Piłsudski met Aleksandra Szczerbińska. The following year their affair started and his marriage with Maria Piłsudska quickly deteriorated. In 1908 Maria's only daughter from the first marriage died. Since then Piłsudski repeatedly asked Maria to agree for their divorce, yet she refused. With time Aleksandra Szczerbińska became his de facto wife, while Maria Piłsudska lived peacefully in Kraków.

Maria Piłsudska died on August 17, 1921 in Kraków. She was buried in Rossa Cemetery in Wilno. Piłsudski was not present at her burial and two weeks later married Aleksandra, with whom he had a daughter since 1918.