Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership
Female Heads of State of Poland (Female suffrage 1918) After being partitioned by Russia,
Prussia and Austria the Kingdom ceased to exist in 1795, was re-established as a
state in 1918, 1945-89 Socialist one-party state where the Politburo of the
Communist party was the supreme power.
Also see Poland Substates and Poland Ministers
Circa 750
Legendary Queen Wanda
978/80-92
Politically Active Princess Oda of Poland
The second wife of
Prince
Mieszko I
1034-37
Regent Dowager Queen Richeza von der Pfalz of Poland
For Kazimierz I (1016/1034-37 and 1040).
She died 1063.
1088-92
Politically Influential Princess Judith Maria von Habsburg of Poland
1138-44
Politically Influential Princess Dowager Salomea von Berg of Poland
1138-44 Sovereign Princess of Sieradz, Łęczyca and Sandomierz
1194-1203/05
Regent Dowager Queen Elena of Poland Minor
For Leszek I (1194-98, 1199-1200 and 1201), for Mieszko III (1198-99, 1201 and
1202 (his second, third and fourth rule) and for Wladislaw (1202-06). She died
1203/05
1227-28
Regent Dowager Princess Grzymislava von Luck of Poland Minor
First regent and then co-ruler with son Bolesław V, after the death of her
husband, Duke Leszek Biały of Małopolska. She lived (1190-1258).
1303-? Queen
Richeza of Poland and Bohemia
She and her husband Przemysl III were crowned as King of Queen of the two
countries and she received the Province of Greater Poland as a dowry. In 1306
her son, Venceslaus III became king but was murdered the same year.
1370-75,
1376-77 and 1378-79 Regent Dowager Queen Elżbieta Łokietkówna of Poland and
Dalmatia
She was regent for her son,
Lajos, (Laslo) of
Poland-Hungary, who resided in Hungary most
of the time.
She has been very influential during the whole of his reign, he was succeeded by
his daughter Jadwiga in Poland and Maria in Hungary, and
lived (1305-80).
1384-99
Queen Jadwiga
Her official title was “Hedvig Rex Polonić”. She was daughter of Laslo of
Hungary and Poland. Her sister, Maria, became Queen of Hungary. Jadwiga was
married to Grand-Duke Wladislaw of Lithuania who became king and co-regent. He
lived (1386-1434). She died 1399
1399-1425 Politically Influential Princess Anna of
Poland
Her father, Casimir III of Poland (1309–1370), was suceeded by his nephew, Louis
of Hungary, who was again succeeded by his daughter, Jadwiga. When she died in
1399 her husband, Władysław IV Jagiełło, Grand Duke of Lithuania looked for a
new wife among the heirs to the kingdom of Poland, and he was married to her
yongest daughter, Anna of Celje and had one daughter, Princess Jadwiga of
Lithuania, in 1408, with him. Anna died in 1416 without further surviving
children and her granddaughter was married to Margrave Friederich II of
Brandenburg Template (1413–1471), and she and a party of nobles wanted her
granddaughter and her husband to succeed Władysław at least in Poland, instead
of his sons by his fourth wife, but when she died, Jadwiga was without any
strong relatives to support her position and she died 1431 without any issue,
allegedly by poison. She had first married the Slovenian count William of Celje
(1361–92) and secondly Duke Ulrich von Teck (d. 1432). She lived (1366–1425).
1434-61 Politically Active
Also known as Sonka or Sofia of Holszany. After the death of her husband, king
Władysław II Jagiełło, she lost the struggle over the regency for her son King
Władysław III Warneńczyk of Poland and Hungary, though new research indicates
that she might have been Regency Council Member, but she remained involved in
politics, and in 1454 helped her younger son, Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk, to
asume the throne after the death of his brother. king. She lived
(1405-61).
Very influential during the reign of her husband, polish king and great duke of
Lithuania, Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk and their son, Jan I (1492-1501). She
lived (1436–1505).
1575-86 Rex
Poloniae Anna Jagiellonka
Daughter
of King Zygmunt I the Old of Poland and Bona Sforza, and was Queen and co-regent
with her husband Stefan Batory, but she was not politically influential and only
titular "king". After the death of her husband, she introduced nephew Zygmunt
Vasa of Sweden (the son of her sister) on the throne. She lived (1523-96).
1606-31
Politically Influential Queen Konstancja von Habsburg of Poland
She was the second wife of king Zygmunt III Waza (1566-87-1632), and very
political influential during his reign. She lived (1588–1631).
1649-67 De
Facto Co-Ruler Queen Ludowika Maria Gonzaga of Poland
Governor of
the Nivernais in France 1637-47. She was very political influential and de facto co-ruler after her marriage to Władysław IV Waza (1595-1632-48) and during the reign of his younger brother,
king Jan II Kazimierz Waza (1609-48-68). Maria Ludvica Gonzaga lived (1611–67).
1674-96
Politically Influential Queen Maria Kazimiera d'Arquien of Poland
Also known as Marysieńka, she was very political influential during the reign of
her husband, king Jan III Sobieski (1629-74-96). Since 1699 she lived in Rome
and from 1714 in France. She lived (1641–1716).
During the reign of her brother, King of Poland Jan III Sobieski, she was
politically influential. First married to Władysław Dominik Zasławski and
secondly to Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł on June 13, 1658.
1733-57 Politically influential Queen Maria
Josefa von Habsburg of Poland and Sachsen
When her husband, Elector Friederich August II von Sachsen or King August II of
Poland (16961733-63) was in Poland she functioned as his representative, if not
as an official regent in Sachsen. Ministers and ambassadors reported to her and
she maintained a large network of corrresponce. She was a powerful personality,
who exerciesed great influence over her husband, and whose authority was
recognised by all members of the court. She also participated actively in the
negotiations in the Reichstag (Assembly). All of her surviving 11 children made
good marriages, but this alignment with Austria and the rest of Catholic Europe
provoked the aggression of Preussia, and led to the Seven Years War, which began
in 1756, when Sachsen was occoupied by King Friederich II. Her husband escaped
to Poland, but she chose to stay back and organised the defence together with
her son, Friederich Christian and his wife, Maria Antonia, and she used her big
international network to do her best to save the electorate from total
destruction. As there were no male Habsburg Heirs to the Austrian Empire she and
her sister Maria Amalia (influential in Bavaria since 1722), had been given
precedence in the succession in the secret "Pactum Mutuae Successionis", but
later her uncle, Karl VI, paved the way for the succession of his daughter,
Maria-Theresia in 1740 through the Pragmatic Sanction. Instead she tried to have
her husband Holy Roman Emperor after the death of Karl VI and his successor,
Karl VII, in 1744. five years later. She lived (1699-1757).
20.11.1952-24.06.1965 Member
of the Council of State Alicja Musiałowa
24.06.1965-28.03.1972 Member
of the Council of State Eugenia Krassowska-Jodłowska
06.1950-12.1951 Prostate Secretary of High Schools and Science
12.1951-06.1965 Prostate Secretary of Higher Education
Between 1965-69 Vice-Chairperson of the Democratic Party (Stronnictwo
Demokratyczne). She lived (1910–86).
28.03.1972-02.04.1980 Member
of the Council of State Halina Koźniewska
Non-partisan. (1920-)
18.12.1976-06.11.1985 Member
of the Council of State Eugenia Kempara
02.04.1980-23.03.1983 Member
of the Council of State Krystyna Marszałek-Młyńczyk
06.11.1985-17.06.1988 Member
of the Council of State Elżbieta Łucja Gacek
Vice-Marchall of Sejm in 17.06.1988-03.06.1989. Member of the Polish United
Worker's Party (PZPR). (1938-)
1997-2001 2nd
Deputy Head of State, Marshall of the Senate Prof. Alicja Grześkowiak
She was Vice-Marshall of the Senate 1992-93
Last update 14.11.11