STANISLAUS II AUGUSTUS PONIATOWSKI, King of Poland. — Born 17 Jan. 1732 at Wołczyn, died 12 Feb. 1798 at St. Petersburg.
He traveled throughout Europe until in 1755 he went to Russia with the English diplomat Sir Hanbury Williams and became the favorite of Catherine II, then Grand Duchess. Returning to Poland, he was elected King of Poland in 1764 under pressure from Catherine, of whom he was a weak political instrument. His reign marked the end of Poland as an independent state, since S. was forced to consent to the three partitions of the country among Austria, Prussia, and Russia. On 25 Nov. 1795 he abdicated and moved to Russia, where he received a pension from the three powers that had divided Poland.
BIBL.: H. Schmitt, Panovanie Stanisława Augusta, 4 voll., Leopoli 1869-70; O. Forst-Battaglia, Poniatowski, trad. it., Milano 1930.