AUGUSTUS III., king of Poland (1696-1763) and, as FRED ERICK AUGUSTUS II., elector of Saxony, the only legitimate son of Augustus II. ("the Strong"), was born at Dresden on Oct. 17 1696, and died there on Oct. 5 1763. He followed his father's example by joining the Roman Catholic Church in 1712. In Aug. 1719 he married Maria Josepha, daughter of the Emperor Joseph I., and became elector of Saxony on his father's death in Feb. He was then a candidate for the Polish crown; and having pur chased the support of the Emperor Charles VI. by assenting to the Pragmatic Sanction, and that of the Tsarina Anne by recognizing the claim of Russia to Courland, he was elected king of Poland in Oct. Aided by the Russians, his troops drove Stanislas Leszczynski from Poland; Augustus was crowned at Cracow in Jan. 1734, and was generally recognized as king at Warsaw in June 1736. On the death of Charles VI., in Oct. 174o, Augustus, as a son-in-law of the Emperor Joseph I., claimed a portion of the Habsburg terri tories. In 1742, however, he was induced to transfer his support to Maria Theresa, and his troops took part in the struggle against Frederick the Great during the Silesian wars, and again when the Seven Years' war began in 1756. Saxony was in that year attacked by the Prussians, and the Saxon army was forced to capitulate at Pirna in October. The elector fled to Warsaw, and made no at tempt to recover Saxony from Frederick. When the treaty of Hubertsburg was concluded in Feb. 1763 he returned to Saxony.
He had five sons, of whom the eldest was Frederick Christian, who succeeded him; and five daughters, one of whom married Louis, the dauphin of France, and another Charles III., king of Spain. Augustus was content to leave Poland under the influence of Russia, and Saxony to the rule of his ministers. He took great interest in music and painting, and added to the collection of art treasures at Dresden.