orig. Stanisław Leszczyński
born Oct. 20, 1677, Lwów, Pol.
died Feb. 23, 1766, Lunéville, France
King of Poland (1704–09, 1733).
The son of a Polish noble, he became king when Charles XII of Sweden invaded Poland (1702), deposed King Augustus II , and placed Stanisław on the throne (1704). When Sweden was defeated by the Russians in 1709, Augustus regained the throne, and Stanisław settled in France, where his daughter Marie married Louis XV . After Augustus's death (1733), Stanisław was elected king of Poland, but Russia invaded to prevent an alliance with France, causing the War of the Polish Succession . Deposed again, Stanisław was granted the provinces of Lorraine and Bar, where he promoted economic development and made his court at Lunéville a cultural centre.