Jan was born in 1740 or 1754 as the son of Jakub Suchorzewski and Jadwiga Zajączek. Around 1770 he married Joanna Przyjemska; they had three children. During the Great Sejm Suchorzewski was at first a supporter of the Patriotic Party; in particular he supported the enlargement of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's army. In 1789 he published a brochure on the cities and law. However, he eventually switched sides and joined the Hetman Party opposed to the reforms. Around 18 January 1791 he criticized the recently premiered The Return of the Deputy comedy of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz for its political content; his critique was not well received and he was ridiculed for it, losing prestige. Despite his opposition of many reforms, he nonetheless played a major, if perhaps not necessarily intentional, role in the passage of the Free Royal Cities Act in April 1791, as his rather unexpected involvement in the discussion boosted the supporters of the act and eased its passing. For that, the king rewarded him with the Order of Saint Stanislaus. Suchorzewski unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the king from signing the Constitution of 3 May, blocking his way and threatening to kill his own son to save him from the "slavery of the Constitution". In this way he repeated, in an infamous, or tragicomic way, the gesture of Tadeusz Rejtan. This incident was immortalized on Jan Matejko's painting Constitution of May 3, 1791. From Suchorzewski's pocket, a deck of cards has fallen out, an allusion to the way he was bribed by the Hetman Party leaders, Russian ambassadorOtto Magnus von Stackelberg and hetmanBranicki. Later, he would publish a critique of the constitution in the brochure Uwagi nad konstytucją polską 3 maja 1791 and Odezwa do narodu wraz z protestacyją dla Śladu Gwałtu i Przemocy, do której prawie w całym Sejmie zbliżano, a w dniu 3 maja 1791 dokonano. 's painting Constitution of May 3, 1791 of the leaders of Targowica Confederation, Warsaw, 1794, in the aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising. Painting by Jan Piotr Norblin. Suchorzewski, with several other opponents of the constitution, departed to Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire, where he became one of the founding members and high-ranking officials of the Confederation of Targowica. Derdej speculated that out of all those who signed the act of the Confederation, Suchorzewski was the only one who might have thought they were really acting in the country's best interest. He commanded a cavalry brigade in the Confederation forces during the War in Defense of the Constitution that the Confederates eventually won, overthrowing the Constitution. During the Kościuszko Insurrection he was sentenced, in absentia, to a death by hanging, eternal infamy, loss of all titles and confiscation of possessions. His effigy was hanged on the 29 September 1794.
