One of three daughters of Antoni Grudziński, the last owner of the town of Chodzież, Grudzińska was known for her beauty. On May 27, 1820, she married Grand Duke Constantine after an affair that started in 1815. Marriage required Constantine to formally divorce with Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, his estranged wife (who separated and fled to Coburg back in 1801). Prior to approval of this marriage, Tsar Alexander I forced Constantine, then heir presumptive, to forfeit his rights to the throne of Russia in favor of Nicholas I. Secrecy of this decision, known to a very close circle in Saint Petersburg, contributed to the Decembrist revolt of 1825 that followed Alexander's death.
By some considered a traitor, Joanna remained faithful to her husband even after the November Uprising in which he fought against his Polish subjects. Interestingly, her twin sister Maria was married to Gen. Dezydery Chłapowski, one of the most notable Polish commanders during the Uprising; another sister married an officer of Russian tsar's retinue.
In June, 1831, Constantine died of cholera in Vitebsk, shortly before their planned evacuation to Saint Petersburg. Joanna delivered his body to Saint Petersburg, and died the same year. She was buried in Tsarskoye Selo; in 1929 her remnants were exhumed and reburied in the grave of her sister and Gen. Chłapowski in Rąbin near Leszno.
