Jan Zachwatowicz (4 March 1900 – 18 August 1983) was a Polish
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
,
architectural historian
An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it.
Professional requirements
As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...
, and restorer. He is notable for being the creator of the
Blue Shield Blue Shield may refer to:
* Blue Shield emblem, a distinctive symbol marking cultural property defined by the 1954 Hague Convention
* Blue Shield International, an international organization named after the Blue Shield emblem that protects cultura ...
cultural heritage symbol.
Biography
Zachwatowicz was born in
Gatchina
Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...
. He studied Industrial Civil Engineering at the
Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, abbreviated as SPbPU, is a public technical university located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Over the decades, it established itself as a cornerstone of technical education and research, ulti ...
, and graduated from the School of Architecture at the
Warsaw University of Technology
The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...
in 1930.
[Architecture and Landscaping. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Oxford University Press, 2006.]
Retrieved on 2008-05-29. He was awarded with the
SARP Honorary Award (1971; ).
He was a professor of the Warsaw University of Technology (since 1946; he worked there since 1925), member of the
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...
(since 1952), member of the
Académie d'architecture
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
(since 1967), member of the
International Council on Monuments and Sites
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; ) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was fou ...
, general restorer of relics in Poland (from 1945 to 1957; ), chairman of the Architectural-Restoration Committee (since 1971; ), and chairman of the Civil Committee of
Royal Castle in Warsaw Reconstruction ().

Zachwatowicz contributed to reorganization and enlargement of the Polish restoration service. During the
occupation of Poland
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
(1939–1945) he took part in teaching, protecting and saving works, i.e. set of relic buildings measurements (including The Market Square of
Warsaw Old Town
Warsaw Old Town, also known as Old Town, and historically known as Old Warsaw,''Encyklopedia Warszawy''. Warsaw: Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, 1994, p. 806. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, ...
). From January 1945 he co-directed the Warsaw Reconstruction Office (; f. ''Biuro Organizacji Odbudowy Warszawy'').
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, many other historic buildings in
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
,
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
, and
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
were restored or rebuilt according to principles established by Zachwatowicz and his team. Among his many achievements was the rebuilding of
St. John's Cathedral, Warsaw (1960).
[
He was a scholar with over 200 major publications to his credit.
He was the father of Krystyna and Katarzyna Zachwatowicz. He died in ]Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, aged 83.
Selected works
* ''Ochrona Zabytków w Polsce'' (1965)
* ''Architektura polska'' (1966)
* ''Sztuka polska przedromańska i romańska do schyłku XIII wieku'' (1971; collective work)
* ''Zamek Królewski w Warszawie'' (1972)
See also
* Blue Shield International
The Blue Shield, formerly the International Committee of the Blue Shield, is an international organization founded in 1996 to protect the world's cultural heritage from threats such as armed conflict and natural disasters. Originally intended as ...
References
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;General
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External links
Testimony of Jan Zachwatowicz about German policy in occupied Warsaw
- Chronicles of Terror collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zachwatowicz, Jan
1900 births
1983 deaths
Architectural historians
Warsaw University of Technology alumni
Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering alumni
Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology
Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989)
20th-century Polish historians
20th-century Polish architects
Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)
People from Tsarskoselsky Uyezd
Burials at Powązki Cemetery
Polish monument conservators