Maria Plater-Zyberk

Merited for breeding sport horses in the world. On her farm (Wojcieszków) an outstanding horse (father of sports horses) Ramzes was born.

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Born on November 5, 1872 in Passy near Warsaw.

She was the third of five children of Mr. Tadeusz Plater-Zyberek and Zofia Aleksandrowicz.

The Countess's father was an outstanding breeder and farmer. He started breeding horses in Wojcieszków, which until 1939 supplied military stables.

Stud in Wojcieszków - in the interwar years it had about 30 half-bred mares and stallions from PSO Janów Podlaski stationed there. Among other things, it was in Wojcieszków that the world-famous stallion Ramzes was born.

In 1929, Maria Plater Zyberk bought a faulty gray filly Jordi, born at the National Stud in Janów Podlaski, at an auction in Janów Podlaski. in 1928 by Schagya from Demeter by Bakszysz z from Astarte by Amurath (Weil) from Dahoman XII. Jordi, as a three-year-old, was included in the mother herd in Wojcieszków.

Ramzes' father, full English Rittersporn, who participated with good results in steeplechase races in Germany, from 1930, and probably until the end of his life, stayed and hid at Wojcieszków Stud (Łuków district).

The mare Jordi in 1937 gave birth to a colt named Ramzes.

In the first days of January 1940, the German occupiers began to organize the stud farm and herd of stallions in Janów Podlaski again. A dozen or so young stallions were imported from Kozienice, which had been saved from the training facility that existed there before the war, and stallions from East Prussia began to arrive. As he mentions in his article, “Ramzes” Tadeusz Marchowiecki: “I took advantage of the fact that they were looking for more stallions to buy, and I informed Gustaw Rau about Rittersporn's four sons in Wojcieszków. All stallions were purchased for the sum of 20. zlotys.”[2]

The countess also contributed to the founding of the parish Association of Polish Women's Youth. This association had its own banner, library, stall with devotional items, conducted retreats, organized agricultural courses. The members played volleyball, organized nativity plays, and sang in the choir. They participated in various courses, even went on horse-drawn trips to Łuków to the cinema. At Christmas, they organized a fundraiser for the poorest.

Countess Maria Plater-Zyberk, initially lived in Wojcieszków with her daughter Marylka, but the German administrator who was introduced there and the house was attacked several times caused them to move out of the palace without taking anything and to live in Warsaw in Krakowskie Przedmieście.

The memory of people and horses who made Poland famous all over the world has not been lost in the place of birth of Ramzes - the commune of Wojcieszków. Ms. Jadwiga Józwik, president of the Society of Friends of Wojcieszków, said: “We want Wojcieszków to finally become known to a wider circle of people. Our community can build its identity and future on the story of Ramses. In the 70th century we were a city. Back in the 3s of the last century, we were ranked first in horse breeding in the voivodeship. We have poor soils and there is no industry here, but there are excellent conditions for the development of tourism. I think that Ramses can become an attraction that, next to a beautiful church and a regional chamber with numerous exhibits, will attract people here and that agritourism will develop. Not only the commune, but also the county will benefit from it.”[XNUMX]

[1]http://wolabystrzyckafotografie.blogspot.com/2015/11/maria-plater-zyberk-hrabina-z.html, accessed on November 20.11.2019, 14, 00:XNUMX

[2] Horse of Poland, 1968 no. 4 p. 20

[3]http://www.lukow24.pl/wiadomosci/informacje/pomnik-konia-w-wojcieszkowie,p29687820, accessed on November 20.11.2019, 14, 20:XNUMX

Below you will find links to related materials in the Polish Digital Equestrian Library.