Johann Christian Schuch

Johann Christian Schuch (or Jan Chrystian Szuch) (1752 - 28 June 1813) was a Dresden-born garden designer and architect, active in Poland.

Initially he learned gardening from his father, a House of Wettin court gardener. Later he studied painting and civil engineering at the Dresden University of Visual Arts, and to complete his education he travelled extensively, visiting gardens in Kew, Trianon and Schönbrunn. In 1775 he came to Poland, where he worked for princess Izabela Lubomirska and count Michał Jerzy Mniszech. From 1781 he was a superintendent of royal gardens at the court of king Stanisław August Poniatowski, for whom he, together with Domenico Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer,redesigned Łazienki Park in Warsaw. The king gave him a large estate bordering Łazienki Park from the west, thus securing his prosperity. Schuch established the first fruit tree nursery in Poland there, where he experimented with various novel methods of protecting the trees from excessive sun and frost, until an abnormally harsh winter of 1802/3 caused a substantial financial loss.

After the king's abdication in 1795 he worked for many Polish aristocratic families.

In 1811 he became a member of the Warsaw Royal Society of Friends of Learning where he presented a number of papers on diverse subjects.

He married Ludwika Wolska and they had many children (only one son, Adolf Grzegorz, is known by name). He died in Warsaw and is buried there.

References

*Polski Słownik Biograficzny, vol. 36, ed. Henryk Markiewicz, 1995-6, Warszawa-Kraków, pages 16-17 pl icon