One of Emperor Napoleon’s bravest marshals, Józef Poniatowski, who devoted his destiny to battling for the freedom of Poland and fought to his last breath in the front line at the Battle of Leipzig, left a surprising footprint in Prague. His mother was Countess Theresia of the Kinsky family. Józef spent part of his childhood with his mother in Prague, where he acquired the familiar Czech nickname “Prince Pepi”. As Emperor Napoleon’s star began to fall after his disastrous campaign into Russia, there were few left who would remain loyal to him to the last moment. Yet among those who would give even their lives for their commander-in-chief was Marshal Józef Poniatowski, a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman and nephew of the then King Stanislaus. An intrepid military hero, who devoted his life to fighting for the freedom of his nation – both in the ranks of the Polish army and as a French commander – he even managed to save the lives of two marshals on opposite sides of the barricade during his lifetime, thanks to his personal bravery: first the Austrian Schwarzenberg and later the French Murat. His own life story came to an end at the most symbolic moment: once the greatest battle of the 19th century – the “Battle of the Nations” at Leipzig – was irretrievably lost for Napoleon, Marshal Poniatowski covered the retreat of the French army until his dying breath. However, few people know that the famous story of the Polish-French hero also has a distinct Prague footprint. The future marshal was born into a Polish-Lithuanian royal family on his father’s side, and his uncle was none other than the monarch Stanislaus August Poniatowski, but Józef’s mother Countess Theresia came from the old Czech noble family of Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau. Following the premature death of his father, who was an Austrian general, Józef moved to Prague with his mother for a time, where he acquired the familiar Czech nickname “Prince Pepi”, and undoubtedly resided at the Kinsky Palace on Old Town Square. The high status of the Poniatowski family predestined Józef to an early military career, first in Austrian and then, at the request of his uncle King Stanislaus, in the Polish service, but he never lost contact with the Czech lands. His mother settled at the Doksany estate, where her son visited her for a time in the difficult 1790s. Although Poniatowski’s efforts to save the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as commander-in-chief were ultimately futile and Poland was wiped off the map in 1795, his heroic determination did not go unanswered: the Polish commander was among the first to receive the newly established highest decoration, the Virtuti Militari, and his soldiers even sent a note to Józef’s mother in Prague, thanking her for such a wonderful son. Poniatowski’s most stellar moment, however, only came when Napoleon arrived in central Europe twelve years later and decided to partially restore Polish statehood under the Duchy of Warsaw. Poniatowski became minister of war in the newly established local government, and the French Emperor himself presented him with a golden sabre and the title of Grand Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour during the conflict with Austria, in which Józef did not hesitate to personally lead a bayonet charge in one of the bloodiest battles. Poniatowski subsequently took part in the fateful Russian campaign with Napoleon, having warned the Emperor beforehand against the chosen route. His command of Bonaparte’s Polish forces earned the respect of his opponents: the Russian Tsar himself offered him control of Poland if he would betray Napoleon, and Bonaparte likewise counted on him as the future King of Poland. Although the Emperor’s Polish plans came to naught with the Russian campaign, Poniatowski continued to stand by him, for which he earned the Marshal of France baton. His appointment as marshal came a day before the Battle of Leipzig, where his main opponent was Józef’s old friend Karel Philip Schwarzenberg, whose life Poniatowski had once saved from the Ottomans. At Leipzig, however, Schwarzenberg could not repay him for this gesture, for once the French had lost the battle, Poniatowski refused to board a lifeboat and with the words “one should die bravely,” covered the retreating army until his last breath. Soon after his heroic demise, Poniatowski became a legend and was granted the highest honour of being put to rest alongside other Polish greats at the royal Wawel Hill. However, his Czech footprint is still commemorated by the final resting place of his mother Countess Theresia at the Olšany Cemetery in Prague.