Collection: Anna Olimpia Mostowska

The exact dates of birth and death of Anna Olimpia Mostowska (née Radziwiłł) are unknown. There are dates of around 1762 and 1833. Although there are also opinions that the year 1762 is pure speculation and the date of death is in fact 1810-1811.

Probably in 1778 she married Dominik Przeździecki, the starost of Mińsk, to whom she bore a son, Michał, in 1779. After her husband's death in November 1782, she relinquished custody of her minor son, and in 1787, despite the vehement opposition of the groom's family, she married again, to Tadeusz Antoni Mostowski (born 1766), who was younger than herself. The marriage broke up after a few years, and around 1804 a formal divorce was granted.

In the 1790s, Mostowska spent many years abroad, mainly in France, where she came into contact with the Gothic novel, which was fashionable in the West. After returning to Lithuania, she began working with Józef Zawadzki's publishing house, founded in 1805 in Vilnius. There, in 1806, she published her first book My entertainments (including Scary Castle , Matilda and Daniło ), and in 1807 Astolda – one of the first attempts at a historical novel in Poland. Two years later, in 1809, the diocesan printing house published five more stories included in the collection Zabawki w popoczku . Mostowska was the author of several theatre plays, but they have not survived to our times.