Agnieszka Machówna

Agnieszka Machówna ( – 12 July 1681) was a Polish con artist and bigamist. Born in the peasantry, she is famous for her fraud in posing as a member of the Zborowski family. She was convicted of forgery, theft, adultery, and perjury, and was sentenced to death and executed.

Life

Machówna was born around 1648 in the village of Kolbuszowa. Her father, Mikaj Mach, was a military drummer and her mother was a peasant woman. She was likely baptized under the name "Jadwiga". Her mother worked as a servant at the Lubomirski Palace, and Duchess Helena Tekla Lubomirska sent Machówna to a local parish priest to teach her to read and write. Machówna took advantage of her education and exposure to court manners by falsely claiming to be Aleksandra Zborowska, daughter of the late Marcin Zborowski. As the Rytwiany branch of the Zborowski family was nearly extinct, her story was not questioned.

With her claims accepted, she married Kollati, a wealthy officer of the Austrian army who was staying at the court of Eleonore of Austria; however, he soon abandoned her so that he could become involved with other women in Vienna. Machówna then married Stanisław Rupniowski, the castellan of Biecz, who took her to Paris. After Rupniowski died unexpectedly, Machówna returned to Poland and asserted her right to inherit his estates.