Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł

Who was Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł?

Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł was a magnate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and an active reformer. She carried the title of Princess.

Radziwiłł was born in Königsberg in the Duchy of Prussia. A member of the Radziwiłł family, she was the last agnatic-line member of the most prominent Calvinists of Lithuania, and a descendant of the Gediminids and Jagiellons. Radziwiłł inherited Biržai and Dubingiai from her father Bogusław Radziwiłł as his only successor. Her death in Brieg marks the end of the Biržai-Dubingiai Radziwiłł family line. She was the last Radziwiłł to own Biržai Castle and Dubingiai Castle with their lands.

Radziwiłł spent most of her life in Berlin and Königsberg, but paid much attention to her lands in the grand duchy. Like her father, she funded the issue of books in the Lithuanian language, and supported education and Calvinist parishes. She established scholarships for Lithuanian students of theology in the universities of Königsberg, Frankfurt, and Berlin. Radziwiłł financed the issue of the catechism and primer in the Lithuanian language, Pradzia pamoksla del mazu Weykialu…, which was printed in Königsberg in 1680.