Background
She was born in 1865 in Zalavas (now part of Vilnius County), at that time part of the Russian Empire, to Konstanty Koplewski, a prominent physician.
She was born in 1865 in Zalavas (now part of Vilnius County), at that time part of the Russian Empire, to Konstanty Koplewski, a prominent physician.
There she studied in the Bestuzhev Courses, a university for women, while cultivating friendships within certain revolutionary circles.
After graduating from high school, she moved to Saint St. Petersburg, Russia. lieutenant was there she met Marian Juszkiewicz, a young railway engineer whom she married in 1883. In 1892, the beautiful, intelligent and socially poised Maria met Józef Piłsudski.
Soon afterward they settled in Łódź, where Józef continued his revolutionary activities.
In February 1900, they were arrested when a clandestine printing press was discovered in their apartment. After eleven months Maria was released, while Piłsudski remained imprisoned in the infamous Tenth Pavilion at the Warsaw Citadel in the Russian-occupied part of Poland.
Upon his subsequent escape from a mental hospital in Saint St. Petersburg to which he had been transferred, the couple moved to Lwów, in eastern Galicia in Austria-Hungary. In mid-November 1901, they relocated to London, the seat of the Polish Socialist Party"s leadership.
In April 1902, however, pursuant to the needs of the Parliamentary Private Secretary, they returned to Lwów, and in 1904 moved to KrakóWest
In May 1906 Piłsudski met Aleksandra Szczerbińska, who was working with the Parliamentary Private Secretary paramilitary organization. After a time, Piłsudski and Aleksandra began an affair. By 1909, Maria was aware of Jozef"s affair but refused to divorce him, and they continued to share a home until the outbreak of the First World War.
Maria remained popular among the Parliamentary Private Secretary and its paramilitary faction, and had helped Józef gain adherents amongst them.
Their marriage continued to deteriorate, however, and after his release from Magdeburg Prison in November 1918, Piłsudski abandoned her. Aleksandra Szczerbińska became his de facto wife, although for propriety"s sake they had to maintain separate homes.
Maria Piłsudska withdrew from public life and continued to reside in KrakóWest Maria Piłsudska died in Krakow on August 17, 1921.
She was buried at the Rossa Cemetery in Vilnius.