Jean Samuel Guisan

Jean Samuel Guisan (29 March 1740 – 29 June 1801) was a Swiss engineer and civil servant known for his poldering work in the marshes near Kaw in French Guiana.

Biography Guisan was born in Avenches, Switzerland. In 1769, he moved to Suriname to work for Nicolaas Guisan, his uncle, who owned the plantation La Liberté. During 1772 and 1773, sugar and coffee prices were very low, and business was bad. Guisan was put in charge of the plantation Accaribo, and managed to turn the plantation into a profitable business.

In 1777, Guisan came to the attention of Pierre-Victor Malouet, who was on a mission by the French government to Suriname to discuss the 200 Maroons that had fled to French Guiana. Malouet persuaded Guisan to improve and develop agriculture on the lowlands of French Guiana, and appointed him captain of the colonial troops. Guisan started working on the area around Kaw, began poldering the banks of the Approuague and Kaw River, and supervised the digging of the Roy and Torcy canals. His efforts transformed the area into a flourishing agricultural region. Guisan also constructed the first sugar factory in the colony.