Maria Helena Kaczyà Âska (; ; 21 August 1942 â 10 April 2010) was the First Lady of Poland from 2005 to 2010 as the wife of President Lech Kaczyà Âski. She and her husband died in a plane crash in the Russian city of Smolensk.
Kaczyà Âska was born in Machava (near Kabylnik, now Belarus), the daughter of Lidia and Czesà Âaw Mackiewicz. Her father fought in the Vilnius Armia Krajowa (Home Army), while an uncle fought in the Polish II Corps of Gen. Wà Âadysà Âaw Anders at the Battle of Monte Cassino during the Italian Campaign of World War II; another uncle was murdered by the NKVD (Soviet secret police) at Katyà Â.
Kaczyà Âska attended primary and secondary schools in Rabka Zdrój in southern Poland. She studied transport economics and foreign trade in Sopot at what is now the University of Gdaà Âsk. After graduating in 1966, she worked at the Maritime Institute in Gdaà Âsk, where she met Lech Kaczyà Âski in 1976. They married in 1978, and had a daughter. In addition to her native Polish, Maria Kaczyà Âska spoke four languages such as English, French and some Spanish and Russian.
On 10 April 2010, 10:41 MSD (06:41 UTC), Maria Kaczyà Âska, and her husband, Polish President Lech Kaczyà Âski, both died when the Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M they were aboard crashed while attempting to land at Smolensk-North Airport in the Russian city of Smolensk. All 89 passengers on board and the seven crew members were killed. The Kaczyà Âskis were traveling with several senior government figures on a trip to mark the 70-year anniversary of the World War II Katyn Massacre, where thousands of Polish military officers were executed by the NKVD.
She was buried along with her husband on 18 April 2010 in the Wawel Cathedral. Her diary was found by her daughter after her death, sparking an interest among many publishers who desired to buy it and release it. However, Marta Kaczyà Âska-Dubieniecka said the diary was too precious for her to sell and also explained that she was not likely to reveal its content.
According to the list of passports of the Tu-154 flight. Some media gives her date of birth as 21 August 1943.