Józef Sylwester Sosnowski (died 31 December 1783), of the

Nałęcz coat-of-arms Nałęcz may refer to: * Nałęcz, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, a village in north-central Poland * Tomasz Nałęcz, Polish politician and academic * Nałęcz coat-of-arms {{disamb, surname ...

, was a Polish-Lithuanian

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

—

Voivode of Smolensk Smolensk Voivodeship (; ; ; ; ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The territory of Smolensk was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

(from 1771) and

Połock Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

(from 1781), Grand Notary of Lithuania (1754), Field Notary of Lithuania (1764–71),

Field Hetman of Lithuania Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(1775–80), a delegate to the

Convocation Sejm Royal elections in Poland ( Polish: ''wolna elekcja'', lit. ''free election'') were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, streng ...

of 1764, and Marshall of the Electoral Sejm of 1764. Sosnowski is best remembered as the father of a love interest of

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

's, Ludwika Sosnowska. Sosnowski refused him his daughter's hand, reputedly telling the future hero of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and leader of Poland's Kosciuszko Uprising against Russia that " turtledoves are not for common sparrows, and magnates' daughters are not for petty

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

References

Year of birth unknown 1783 deaths 18th-century Lithuanian nobility Clan of Nałęcz Field Hetmans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Voivodes of Smolensk {{Poland-noble-stub