Leszczyński, plural: Leszczyńscy is the surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 of a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

  noble

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

 family. Some Polish surnames have different forms for the genders, Leszczyńska is the form for a female family member.

History

The Leszczyński

Leszczynski

Leszczyński , plural: Leszczyńscy is the surname of a Polish noble family. Some Polish surnames have different forms for the genders, Leszczyńska is the form for a female family member.-History:...

 family was a magnate

Magnate

Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...

 family. In 1473 (and not in 1476), Rafal Leszczyński obtained from Emperor Frederick III

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

 the title of count. This title was conferred on "the entire family". The last representative of the family, Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and later Duke of Lorraine, died in 1766. The family name derives from Leszczyna, now a suburb of Leszno

Leszno

Leszno is a town in central Poland with 63,955 inhabitants . Situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously the capital of the Leszno Voivodeship . The town has county status.-History:...

, Greater Poland

Greater Poland

Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...

. The family had its greatest importance in the late 16th and early 17th century when they were ardent supporters of Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 and turned their estates Leszno and Baranów Sandomierski

Baranów Sandomierski

Baranów Sandomierski is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,440 inhabitants .-Castle:...

 into major centres of the Polish Reformed Church

Polish Reformed Church

The Polish Reformed Church, officially called the Evangelical Reformed Church in the republic of Poland is a historic Protestant church in Poland established in the 16th century, still in existence today.-Structure and organisation:An internal census showed that in 2004 the Polish Reformed Church...

.

Coat of arms and motto

The Leszczyński family used the Clan Wieniawa arms.

Notable family members

• Andrzej Leszczyński
  Andrzej Leszczynski
  Andrzej Leszczyński may refer to:* Andrzej Leszczyński , starost of Nakło, voivode of Brześć Kujawski* Andrzej Leszczyński , Voivode of Dorpat Voivodship.* Andrzej Leszczyński , chancellor and primate...
  
   (1606–1651), Palatine of Dorpat
• Bogusław Leszczyński (1614–1659), Grand Treasurer and Deputy Chancellor of the Crown
• Rafał Leszczyński (1650–1703), Grand Treasurer of the Crown
• Rafał Leszczyński (1579–1636), Palatine of Belz
  Belz
  Belz , a small city in the Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, is located between the Solokiya river and the Rzeczyca stream....
  
   leader of Polish Calvinists
• Stanisław Leszczyński, (1677–1766), King of Poland and later Duke of Lorraine
• Maria Leszczyńska
  Maria Leszczynska
  Marie Leszczyńska was a queen consort of France. She was a daughter of King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland and Catherine Opalińska. She married King Louis XV of France and was the grandmother of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. In France, she was referred to as Marie Leczinska...
  
  , (1703–1768), Queen of France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  , married to Louis XV of France
  Louis XV of France
  Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...