Maria Tarnowska (née Światopełk-Czetwertyńska 1884–1965) was a Polish nurse and social activist.

Tarnowska was born in Milanów, on the estate of her father Włodzimierz Światopełk-Czetwertyński, a veteran of the January Uprising, her mother, Maria Wanda of the Uruscy counts.

[1] During the Polish-Bolshevik war she was the commandant of the leaders of the Red Cross.

Due to the high social status and experience, she was delegated to talks with the Germans on the evacuation of the civilian population, which enabled the removal of 20-25 thousand people from Warsaw on September 8–10, 1944, mainly women, children and the elderly.

On July 4, 2016, she was posthumously awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, for her outstanding merits in defense of the sovereignty and independence of the Polish State.