Guests at her salons included Liszt, Richard Wagner who addressed his infamous essay Das Judentum in der Musik to her (her paternal grandmother was Jewish), de Musset, Moniuszko, Gautier, Heine who dedicated his poem "The White Elephant" to her and Fryderyk Chopin. In Warsaw she became a hostess and a patron of the arts and took part in charity fund-raising concerts and theatrical performances. Her resources were always available to those in need. When Stanisław Moniuszko wanted to premiere the four-act version of his opera Halka in Warsaw, he was initially opposed by the Russian administrator in charge of Warsaw theatres, Siergiej Muchanow, who also happened to be the Warsaw chief of police and, later in 1863 became Maria's second husband. Thanks to Maria's intervention, Moniuszko managed to stage his opera. Three months after its January 1858 opening, she organized a benefit concert for Moniuszko, who was in constant financial difficulties. The concert raised 25,000 Polish złoty, which enabled the composer to meet his immediate needs and take a trip abroad. Maria Kalergis had an appreciable influence on the development of musical culture in Warsaw. She was a co-founder of the Warsaw Musical Institute, now the Warsaw Conservatory and, with Moniuszko established the Warsaw Musical Society, now the Warsaw Philharmonic. Between 1857 and 1871 she made frequent appearances as a pianist. Soon after her first husband's death in 1863, she married Muchanow, ten years her junior. He was with her during her illness and nursed her devotedly through her final days. It was probably then that, sensing the approaching end of her life, Maria destroyed her correspondence. However, her letters to her daughter, son-in-law and friends have survived, and have made it possible to reconstruct many facts about her life and are a valuable source about the period. She was interred next to her father at Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery. On her death, Liszt wrote his Elegy on Marie Kalergi. Descendants With Emperor Franz Josef's permission, Maria Kalergis' grandson, Heinrich von Coudenhove, was allowed to alter his surname to Coudenhove-Calergi, as a tribute to his famous grandmother. He married a Japanese noblewoman, Mitsuko Aoyama. In 1923 their son, Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, founded the Paneuropean Union. Notes References Maria Kalergis, Listy do Adama Potockiego (Letters to Adam Potocki), ed. by Halina Kenarowa, translated from the French by Halina Kenarowa and Róża Drojecka, Warsaw, 1986. Stanisław Szenic, Maria Kalergi, Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut