Excerpts from the conversation of Alexander Sapega, president of the Maria Magdalena Radziwill Foundation, and Prince of Sicily Antonio de Bourbon, great-grandson of Maria Magdalena Radziwill.
November 2016
A.S. This year, Matteo Radziwill visited Belarus, where in an interview he told about the desire of the descendants of Maria Ludwik to transfer the remains of Maria Magdalena Radziwill to Belarus.
A.B. Well, if her descendants want it, then why not.
A.S. But you are also a member of the family. What do you think about it? Do you agree?
A.B. Yes. But I'm a very distant descendant. Not direct. It is necessary to remember both the Radziwills, and the Krasinsky, Chartoria. But I do not always agree with the fact that the remains of people need to be transferred.
A.S. But you are also a direct descendant ... great-great-grandson.
A.B. In part, I think that this idea is not bad.
A.S. In the case when Maria Magdalene Radziwill will be transferred to Belarus, then her daughter Maria Ludwik will go to Belarus?
A.B. Perhaps. I do not know all the contracts with Friborg. Or there she will forever be lying, or, for example, in 25-50 years, the remains can be transferred, as it was in France.
A.S. Then it looks like you have not heard anything about this interview and no one has spoken about it to you? Should they also ask you?
A.B. No, I did not. I also do not know if the Radziwills know my address or that I exist in the world at all ...
A.S. According to Matvey Radziwill: there are no descendants in Switzerland ... Maybe he does not know you?
A.B. Well, firstly, we have contact on the Chartia, but on the line of the Radziwills or Sapieha, we have little contact, since during the Second World many people died and our generations are less familiar with each other. The only thing my mom did was that we paid membership dues to a family organization. Therefore earlier we received some information about our family. But the fact that someone from Sapieha and so on has married or is going to get married we do not know at all.
A.S. What would you say if the official party invited you to Belarus? Would you go? Or is it not real anymore?
A.B. What is or is not going to stand will not be able to stand. Do not forget that I will be 88 years old in January. I now belong more to heaven than earth. I somehow, the truth, flew to London to my daughter, but only with escort. My wife is also in a bad condition. I can not leave her for long. One day, returning from Geneva, I found my wife on the floor. She collapsed and could not stand on her own.
A.S. Maria Magdalena Radziwill was supposed to flee to Poland, then to Lithuania and Germany. When the Nazis came, she fled to Switzerland?
A.B. Yes indeed. In Switzerland she lived in a boarding house, this building is preserved, but I'm not sure that the boarding house still exists.
A.S. Last year you sent us four old and unknown to the world pictures of Maria.
A.B. Yes. They were made not in Poland, or already in Switzerland.
A.S. Is it possible to get pictures from you with better quality?
A.B. Hard to tell. Today, this is a painful issue, since all the pictures have been preserved in poor condition. Last year I looked through my albums from 1947-1948. All the pictures are brown, despite the fact that the camera was not bad. Most of all I like Fuji cameras. I still use this company.
A.S. Maybe there is an opportunity to give old pictures to the laboratory?
A.B. Once I tried to do it. Went to the photographer in Lausanne. Unfortunately he did not help, then I tried to send negatives to Bern, but there was not found the necessary equipment. After most of the negatives lit up and became transparent. It's a pity. Previously, they made pictures, drawings, which are preserved better.
A.S. But you are talking about negatives, and I meant the pictures that are. They can be copied and processed. Is it possible?
A.B. Maybe it's possible.
A.S. In Belarus, many people wrote about her scientific work. Unfortunately, very little material has been preserved. Maybe, if this is attempted, then this would be a historical heritage for Belarus, a historical value.
A.B. Unfortunately, the pictures are not in the best condition. I must say that I sometimes sent pictures to my children and so on and I only have copies.
A.S. Maybe you still have correspondence between Magdalena and Belarusian cultural figures, maybe between Ludwik and Magdalena?
A.B. Many letters were lost during the Second World War, so there is very little material.
A.S. What languages do you speak?
A.B. Polish, German, Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French.
A.S. If you met your great-great-grandmother, in what language did she speak to you?
A.B. In French! French was also an international language before and after the war. German was considered a more scientific language. Many professor
