Szymon Zabiełło () was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman (Polish: ''

szlachcic The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social class, a ...

'') of the Topór clan (born 14 July 1750,

Raudondvaris Raudondvaris is a town on the Nevėžis River in Kaunas district, Lithuania, west of Kaunas city municipality. History The town was first mentioned in Teutonic chronicles in 1392. The old castle was rebuilt after the Battle of Grunwald and b ...

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, died in 1824). He was the

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

from 1783 to 1787,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

of the

Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Lithuan ...

, and a member of its General Staff in 1792. He was an

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...

to the

Grodno Sejm Grodno Sejm (; ) was the last Sejm (session of parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Grodno Sejm, held in autumn 1793 in Grodno, Grand Duchy of Lithuania (now Grodno, Belarus) is infamous because its deputies, bribed or coe ...

, a member of the

Patriotic Party The Patriotic Party (), also known as the Patriot Party or, in English, as the Reform Party, was a political movement in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the period of the Four-Year Sejm (Great Sejm) of 1788–1792, whose chief achieveme ...

, the Grodno Confederation in 1793, as well as the

Permanent Council The Permanent Council (; ) was the highest administrative authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1775 and 1789 and the first modern executive government in Europe. As is still typically the case in contemporary parliamentary p ...

, and a participant of the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Family

The son of Antoni Zabiełło and Zofia Niemirowicz-Szczytt, the daughter of the castellan of

Mstsislaw Mstislaw or Mstislavl is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw District. In 2009, its population was 10,804. As of 2024, it has a population of 10,019. History Mstislavl was first mentioned in the ...

, Józef Szczytt. He was the brother of

Michal Zabiello Michal (; ; ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, then of all Israel, making ...

, and Józef Zabiełło, a member of the pro-Russian

Targowica confederation The Targowica Confederation (, , ) was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Constitution of 3 May ...

French Royal army

Zabiełło completed his education at the

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German : ''Lünstadt'' ; Lorrain: ''Leneinvile'') is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Ve ...

military academy and served in the

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. In 1780 he became a knight of the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1787, together with his brother Michał Zabiełło, he transferred to the Lithuanian army and was immediately promoted to

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

of the and major general of the .

Four-Year Sejm

From 1788, he was a member of the

Four-Year Sejm The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm ( Polish: ''Sejm Wielki'' or ''Sejm Czteroletni''; Lithuanian: ''Didysis seimas'' or ''Ketverių metų seimas'') was a Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in W ...

. In 1789, Zabiełło was awarded the Order of the White Eagle. In 1790, he was promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

1792 War

He fought against the

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

during the Polish-Russian war of 1792, where he was commended for his actions during the ill-fated

Battle of Brześć Litewski The Battle of Brześć Litewski (also known as the siege of Brześć, battle of Brest-Litovsk or simply battle of Brześć) was a World War II battle involving German and Polish forces that took place between 14 and 17 September 1939, near the ...

. Despite his bravery, Zabiełło was reputed to be ignorant of the finer points of commanding an army on the field against a much larger and well-trained foe.

1792 August - 1794 March

After king Stanisław II's surrender, Zabiełło attempted to organise a

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...

campaign in the enemy's rear, but abandoned these plans due to the sheer advantage held by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Zabiełło was

Vawkavysk Vawkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vawkavysk District. It is located on the and rivers, roughly from the city of Grodno and from Minsk, the national capital. As o ...

's envoy to the

in 1793, where the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ratified. He later liaised with insurrectionist allies in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, while being a member of the Permanent Council established by the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

After the outbreak of the Kościuszko insurrection in Vilnius, he joined and temporarily acted as the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of general

Jakub Jasiński Jakub Krzysztof Jasiński of Rawicz coat of arms (; 24 July 1761 – 4 November 1794) was a Polish general, and poet of Enlightenment.Jerzy Snopek "The Polish Literature of the Enlightenment." Pages 142–143. Jakub Jasiński's mock-heroic "'Sprz ...

. After the collapse of the rebellion, Zabiełło withdrew from public life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabiełło, Szymon 18th-century Polish nobility 1750 births 1824 deaths Polish military officers Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Congress Poland) 19th-century Polish nobility 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian military personnel 19th-century Polish military personnel