Count Józef Kajetan Piotr Maksymilian Ossoliński known as Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński (1748 – 17 March 1826) was a Polish nobleman, landowner, politician, novelist, poet, historian and researcher into literature, historian, translator, lexicographer, bibliophile, a forerunner of Slavic studies and a leading figure of the Polish Enlightenment.

He employed Samuel Linde as his "Gräfliche Ossolinskische Bibliothekar", librarian of the Ossoliński Library until 1803 and under his patronage compiler of the first Polish Lexicon.

His father, Michał Ossoliński was castellan of Czchów and owner of the estates at Mielec, Zgórsk, Cyranka, Piątkowiec, Wola Mielecka, Partyn, Izbiska.

[1] Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772 which "sanctioned" a land grab by the Habsburg monarchy, the Ossoliński estates found themselves in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.

Apart from administering the family estates and the occasional trips to Warsaw, Jozef gave himself over to literary pursuits.

[1] After the Third Partition of Poland (1795) the occupying powers intensified their policies of germanisation and russification closing down native educational establishments, cultural centres and introducing the invader's language into all administrative matters.

In 1808 he was nominated as clandestine consultant to the Austrian court and the following year he became prefect of the Imperial Library, which he successfully defended from looting by Napoleon's invading army.

He was granted the distinction of Royal Marshall by Emperor Francis I of Austria and honoured with the Order of St Stephen of Hungary and Court Bursar of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.

[4] In his highly complicated act of foundation, Ossoliński laid down the staffing and financial arrangements and made express provision for the publication of a newsletter to report on the scientific progress of the institute.