Poniatowska was born with the name of Helène Elizabeth Louise Amelie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor in Paris, France, in 1932.[1][2] Her father was Polish-French, Jean Joseph Evremond Sperry Poniatowski, born to the family distantly related to the last king of Poland (who had no direct descendants), Stanisław August Poniatowski .[3] Her mother was France-born heiress María Dolores Paulette Amor Yturbe, whose Mexican family lost land and fled Mexico after the outsting of Porfirio Díaz during the Mexican Revolution.
