# Jadwiga Czartoryska: Life & Service _Slug: `jadwiga-czartoryska-biography` · HTML: https://czartoryski.dcz.ca/articles/jadwiga-czartoryska-biography.html_ Biographical documents  |  Compiled from family papers by Jerzy Czartoryski, Aylmer Life Story of Jadwiga Czartoryska nee Stadnicka (Version 1) Life Story of Jadwiga Stadnicka Czartoryska (Processed from a typescript copy by Jerzy Czartoryski, Aylmer, January 2004) I was born in Nawojowa on 26 May 1913 as the second daughter of Stefania nee Woroniecka and Adam Stadnicki. My older sister was Maria, born 6 March 1912, also in Nawojowa. We had an English nurse -- apparently rather difficult, but presumably professional. In 1914, as the First World War approached, our parents moved the entire household -- nannies and staff -- to Frein an der Thaya, or in Czech Vranov na Dyji, a castle set on a high defensive rock near the border with Austria; at that time there was no proper border, as this was still the era of Austria-Hungary and Galicia (Lesser Poland) belonged to that Habsburg Empire. In Frein three of my sisters were born: Helena (Helus) in 1914, Anna (Danusia) in 1916, and Stefania (Stefcia) in 1917. When the war broke out my father enrolled in the Order of Malta to avoid military service, but for four years he rode the Maltese trains transporting the wounded from the front to hospitals in Austria. In the intervals between journeys he came to Frein, or Mother went to Vienna. There our parents met many Poles who, fleeing the advancing Austro-Russian front, were staying in Vienna; so they invited them to their castle and hosted them for whole months, even years. This is how the Czartoryski family from Pelkinie came to stay with us -- for about a year and a half. The older boys hunted, and the eldest were at the front. Life in Frein was wonderful, for the war was barely felt; we children had several ladies and girls looking after us, including Fraulein Else Push, who later spent years with us in Nawojowa and still came to visit during our holiday stays in Frein. There were two Stefkas -- "White" and "Black." With "White," or Siatkowska, the family maintained contact almost until her death in Stary Sacz. We still used to visit her from Zakopane; the dear and devoted old woman was always very glad of it. She sent a notebook of her memoirs to the archive for Grandfather. In Frein one walked to Grafin Wiese, where in the post-war years Grandfather had a tennis court built, and we played there though it was a good fifteen minutes' walk. On foot one also went to Feliziental, where there was a little spring with benches, and when we were older and able for longer walks, further up to Breitau. That was the nearest territory. For more distant places -- the forest, the lake at Tiergarten where we fished for crayfish, to Eisleiten where there was a "dangerous" road running right above the Thaya, so that when I drove I was always anxious the horses might take fright. Driving the carriage was indeed a sport and a joy. The beloved coachman Carl was almost a nanny to us; he taught us to drive. He gave us reports, for instance: "Comtesse Hedwig kutschieret sehr gut," which filled me with pride. The horses in 1914-1918 were Tuto and Rigr; in the 1920s and 1930s until the war, Mars and Lestok. Carl died somewhere during the Second World War. Almost every afternoon we went on some drive, very often with a picnic, which we loved. In 1918 we returned to Nawojowa. I remember the journey in a large carriage for the wounded, so there was masses of room; a hammock hung inside in which baby Stefcia was carried and which had to be held steady at braking so it did not swing against the wall. In one compartment mattresses were laid and on them lay the ladies-in-waiting suffering from travel sickness. Also travelling with us was the Saint Bernard dog Koro, who looked out of the windows with interest in the journey. He lived many years in Nawojowa; in old age he was rather bad-tempered, but devoted to all of us, and died with his head resting on Great-Grandmother's boot. I still remember how puzzled we looked at the new and unfamiliar house as we approached the palace in Nawojowa -- having left as an infant, I did not know Nawojowa at all. Life flowed very calmly, regulated and organised; everyone knew what, where, and when they were to do things, so I do not remember much detail from that period. (13 June 1918 -- death of Great-Grandmother.) In 1919 the first boy was born, Jozio, to endless rejoicing; and a year later, in 1920, Jedrek. Jozio was spoilt by his elders because he was first-born and handsome, so we sisters rather teased and mocked him since he cried easily, calling him "ryczywol" (bawler); we took Jedrek's side instead, for he was an ungainly little blond, very sweet. Jozio grew up into a handsome young man, but at 16 he contracted Heine-Medin disease (polio) and was paralysed for life. He became a strong, very brave man. Jedrek was beautiful and wonderfully charming, pure-hearted and noble. He got tuberculosis, and the partisan life during the war caused the disease to develop; poor fellow, he died in January 1945 in Otwock, where he was being treated; Danusia was with him, and Mother was cut off by the Russian-German front when she had gone to fetch warm things for the winter. In 1921 we spent almost the only all-together holidays in Bielice, at my grandparents Maria nee Mankowska and Pawel Woronieccy. Grandfather was enormously kind, good, and gentle, while Grandmother was strict and demanding, so we were a little afraid of her. Besides our parents there were about three ladies with us -- beloved Miss Sabina, a German, and a Polish teacher. Still living then was Grandmother's brother, Uncle Kazio, my godfather, completely twisted with deforming rheumatism, poor man, walking on crutches and getting around the farm and forest by cart. He sometimes took me with him, which I loved very much. His sister, Aunt Maryjka, looked after him; only after his death did she marry Tadeusz Kumanowski. Grandfather died in Warsaw of a heart attack right after the wedding of Basia Woroniecka and Jan Taczanowski in 1922; our parents had gone to that wedding and were thus present at Grandfather's death, which I felt deeply, as I did a few years later the death of Uncle Kazio. Subsequent holidays were most often spent in Frein; in 1924 we all seven went from there with our parents and Grandmother to Rimini by the sea. Although it was May, it was very hot, and we all got sunburnt; Grandmother did not bathe and sat mostly under a parasol. We met agreeable people there -- two Cavazzo brothers with their wives; one of them, Livia Borghese, was very pretty and had a little son, Novello, a lovely blond boy. Later she had two more little boys; we visited her with Father after our wedding on her island on Lake Garda. From Rimini we made excursions -- for instance to Carpegna, where the Carpegna family related to us lived, with Falconieri and a wife who was a Mankowska. It was a large old castle without sanitation or electric light, but magnificent and interesting. We were also at San Marino then, a little town on a hill forming a tiny independent republic -- the President wore a top hat. It was the early days of fascism; one saw many young men in their uniforms and black caps. We as a numerous family travelling by train were looked after with care. Our next seaside holiday was at Westende near Ostend in Belgium in 1926. It was quite cold, the sea often rough; the beach cabins were chained to the pier and sometimes floated. The tides were strong; one built high sandcastles on the beach and had to run fast before the incoming tide to avoid being cut off from shore. On the beach one was not even allowed to stroll in beach costumes however proper -- one had to wear a bathing robe; sunbathing was permitted only in one's own plot. We experienced Pilsudski's May coup in Frein, where we had gone again, the whole family now eight children, for in January 1925 Pawel had been born. I loved children very much and helped a great deal with the younger ones. I looked after Pawel most of all, because his nurse had just left Frein and before the new English one, Miss Foss, arrived, the duty of caring for the eighteen-month-old fell to me. It was fine daily, but often when young people arrived from the neighbourhood it was sad to have to leave to bathe Pawel. From 1927 for several years we went to Gdynia, where in Kamienna Gora our parents had built a large villa with direct access to the beach and a tennis court. Many friends and relatives came, so we had a jolly time. Next to us was a large undeveloped plot (with lovely broom growing there) where horse-jumping competitions were held every year. The military was much admired before the war, and many friends and relatives served, always happy to be seen in uniform. For instance, Marcin Popiel of Kurozweki came to the horse shows, a close cousin of ours (his mother was a Mankowska, a cousin of my mother's), serving in the 2nd Uhlan Regiment; he rode well. We bathed horses together in the sea. My "admirer" -- as they say today -- was the very agreeable and handsome Toni Lipkowski, who served in the navy and came to us many evenings; we danced and had a very merry time. We all attended Toni's promotion to second lieutenant -- a great ceremony on the old cruiser anchored in harbour. Driving to Gdynia from Poznan by car with my mother we stopped in Kazimierz Biskupi for the wedding of Maryjka Mankowska to Andrzej Mycielski, today a ninety-year-old professor. It was the home of Uncle Antos Mankowski, who had nine brothers and sisters. In autumn 1929 my sister Marysia and I went to Zbylitowska Gora for the seventh form; the younger sisters and brothers continued studying at home. At first, unaccustomed to school, I had difficulties, especially in oral recitation; but thanks to the friendly and warm approach of classmates and teachers I soon settled in. Our class guardian was the wonderful, kind, and excellent teacher Mother Chwalibogowska, who had great influence on the whole class, and with whom I have remained in close friendship to this day. Halfway through the year Marysia transferred to a domestic science seminary, which relieved me greatly, for she had difficulties in her studies and through solidarity I used to worry for her. From then on I worried only for myself. Those two years in Gora passed quickly; by May I had passed my matriculation, and all spring we were on special privileges -- we could study in the park and in the evenings when the whole boarding school had gone to bed. After the matriculation a few closer friends came to Nawojowa for a few days. We spent the summer holidays at home, though our parents took us three eldest on a tour of relatives in eastern Poland: we were in Lesko, Przeworsk, Pelkinie, Siedliska, Zurawno, at the Gniewosz family, the Fery Zamoyskis, and more I no longer recall -- or perhaps it was not all on one journey, as we were also in Dzikow, Klemensow, Kurozweki and Wojcza of the Popiels, in Sichow of the Radziwills, and many other houses. We travelled by car, sometimes on sandy tracks where the dust was terrible; when we asked the way, people would say: go straight along the telegraph poles. In autumn 1931 Marysia and I went with Mother to Rome. On the way through Vienna we stopped for a few days (Hotel Erzherzog Karl) where I got a bad tonsil infection and did not go with the parents and Marysia to a beautiful operetta, Sisi; instead I received a dose of castor oil -- vile stuff -- which Grandmother used to cure all our ailments. But by the time we reached Rome I was in fine form. We lodged immediately in the American convent, the so-called Finishing School of the Holy Child on Buoncompagni 10, where besides us three Poles (there was also Rozia Zoltowska, later Jasia Zamoyska's wife), there were two Americans, a Swede, three English girls, and an Italian. We studied English, Italian, art history, and the history of Rome, and twice a week, always accompanied by one of the nuns, we toured Rome and then had to write up what we had seen. In the afternoons we could go out alone, but only along designated streets -- the same circuit over and over, which quickly bored us. Once or twice a week we went on longer excursions with the Italian lady, Signorina Costa; and eventually the two of us won more freedom -- we were allowed to go anywhere in Rome, only we were not to admit this to the "heavy artillery," meaning especially the English girls. Thanks to this we quickly got to know all the wonders of the old city. We also went to watch some ceremony with Mussolini, for we were very fascinated by the fascists at that time. We nearly got expelled from the convent for this; we were saved by the visit of Uncle Bishop, Adam Sapieha, who was in Rome and came to see us -- which so impressed the nuns that they began to turn a blind eye to our exploits. The Polish Ambassador to the Vatican was Mr. S. Skrzynski, a good friend of Grandfather's, so we sometimes went there to play the part of ladies of the house at various receptions. Very kind to us was "Aunt" Biszeta Radziwillowa, old, fat, and already considered a "saint" -- she lived in a hotel apartment (having had to sell her own villa to pay debts) but kept her whole staff, a car with a chauffeur, and an unpleasant bulldog, Mimiszka. She would take us on excursions from time to time. At the Embassy we personally met the magnificent Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, and a friend of Uncle Bishop. \[The original text continues beyond this excerpt. This portion covers Jadwiga's childhood up to her studies in Rome, 1931.\] Curriculum Vitae -- Jadwiga Czartoryska nee Stadnicka Scanned 22 September 2010 in Aylmer by Jerzy Czartoryski. Warsaw, 10 June 1994 Curriculum Vitae of Jadwiga Czartoryska nee Stadnicka Born 26 May 1913 in Nawojowa, Nowy Sacz district. I completed my matriculation at the private Sacred Heart school near Tarnow in 1931. I studied at the Higher School of Commerce (WSH) in Poznan, where in 1935 I received my diploma. In 1937 I married Adam Czartoryski and we settled on the Gluszyna-Babki estate near Poznan, where our son Jerzy was born. In August 1939 my husband was called up for military service and served in the September campaign with the Poznan Army. I was staying at Pelkinie with my parents-in-law at that time; when my husband returned from the war we went to my parents in Nawojowa, where our two daughters were also born. The whole family was engaged in the underground struggle against the Germans. In May 1942, when we moved to Szczawnica -- where my husband became director of the spa and the Szlachtowa-Szczawnica forests, and simultaneously commandant of an AK post -- I too was sworn in. My activities consisted of gathering and passing on intelligence about German movements. I also served as courier for the "Uprawa Tarczy" organisation led by Jozef Stadnicki, codename "Madej." In July 1944 my husband, codename "Szpak" (Starling), went into the forest to command his partisan unit, with which I maintained contact. In December, as the front drew closer, we moved to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, and on 19 January 1945 the AK was dissolved. From May 1945 we lived in Poznan, where I took any work available to support the family together -- a very difficult thing. Only in 1957 did I obtain work, first with the Americans at the Poznan Trade Fair, and from 1952 to 1972 permanently at the US Consulate. Our finances improved, but I was plagued by attempts to force me to cooperate with the security services (UB), which they did not succeed in doing, though they wore on my nerves. From 1972 I have been on a disability pension and currently live in Warsaw. We Come, We Go -- Death Notice for Jadwiga Czartoryska We Come, We Go -- Death Notice -- -- -- Jadwiga Tekla Czartoryska, Princess, nee Countess Stadnicka 26 May 1913 -- 28 December 2009 -- -- -- Jadwiga, nee Countess Stadnicka, Princess Adam's Czartoryska Born 26.05.1913 in Nawojowa. Died 28.12.2009 in Warsaw. Graduate of the Higher School of Commerce in Poznan. Lieutenant of the Home Army (AK), codename "Tuja." Decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Cross of the Home Army, the Partisan Cross, and the Medal Pro Memoria. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at the Church of the Visitation Sisters in Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 34, on Tuesday 5 January 2010 at 11:30, followed at 13:30 by interment in the family grave at the Old Powazki Cemetery (Gate IV). So inform, requesting prayers:\ her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and family. -- -- -- Jadwiga Tekla Czartoryska, Princess, nee Countess Stadnicka 26 May 1913 -- 28 December 2009 Born: 26 May 1913 in Nawojowa. Graduate of the Higher School of Commerce in Poznan. Soldier of the AK, codename "Tuja," promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of the Polish Armed Forces (2001). Decorated with the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Cross of the Home Army, the Partisan Cross, and the Medal Pro Memoria. Wife of Prince Adam Michal Jozef Czartoryski of the Pogon Litewska arms (married 24 June 1937 in Nawojowa). Mother of Prince Jerzy Andrzej Bobola Czartoryski (President of the Canadian Polish Congress, Ottawa). -- -- -- The Stadnicki Family Coat of arms: Sreniawa without cross. "The ancient family of the Sreniawita Stadnickis ranked among the most distinguished in the Commonwealth, both for the high offices it held, for its blood ties with the foremost families in the country, and for the great fortune which secured it a magnate standing. After the Partitions the family maintained its dignity and standing, though widely branched, now holding only part of its former estates. Several of its lines have been granted the title of Count. The oldest nest and seat of the Stadnickis, as of all the Sreniawitas, was the banks of the Sreniawa River in the Krakow voivodeship. The estates of Lyskowice, Niedzwiedz, Brus, and Waganowice, lying in the valley of that river, were held from time immemorial by the Stadnickis, who took their name from the hereditary village of Stadnik, lying on the other side of the Vistula, in what is today the Bochnia district, Dobczyce county, Gdow parish. As Dlugosz attests, the Stadnickis always bore the arms of Sreniawa without cross." (Original spelling preserved.) Teodor Zychlinski, Zlota Ksiega Szlachty Polskiej \[Golden Book of the Polish Nobility\], Poznan 1881, vol. 3. -- -- -- Condolences to Jerzy Czartoryski, long-standing member of the Association of Polish Engineers (SIP) in Canada, on the death of his Mother, from all members -- the Board of the Ottawa Branch of SIP. -- -- -- To Mr. Jerzy Czartoryski, President of the Canadian Polish Congress, Ottawa Branch, and to his nearest family -- heartfelt condolences on the death of his Mother, from Czeslaw and Grazyna Piastowie. Ottawa Bulletins.