Nicolas Chopin was a polonised Frenchman. He was a French teacher and a tutor. Among other things, he worked in Czerniewo as a tutor for the Łączyński family (one of his daughters, Maria, later became the wife of Anastazy Walewski, but became famous as the lover of Napoleon Bonaparte).
He spent about six years with them, and the next he worked for the Skarbek family in Żelazowa Wola, taking care of their four children. There he met Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska, a poor relative of the Skarbeks who lived there and ran the house. The two were united by a common passion - music. Justyna played the piano and sang, while Nicolas played the flute and violin. A year later they had a daughter, Ludwika, and in 1810 their only son, Frederic.
