Ladislaus Cutak

Ladislaus Cutak (May 27, 1908 – January 18, 1973) was an American horticulturist and botanist. He is the author of Cactus Guide (1956) and Cactus Personified (1959).

Early life and education

Ladislaus Cutak was born as Ladislaus Theophine Cutak on May 27, 1908, in Bukovany, Moravia, to Joseph Cutak and his wife. His family emigrated to the United States in 1912, settling in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Cutak was the eldest of six children; he had four younger sisters and a younger brother. The family initially lived in the old French Quarter near the home and office of Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810 - 1899), a German explorer, botanist, and cactologist. 

Cutak was self-educated in the field of botany and horticulture.

Career

His father, Joseph Cutak, a former gardener at Schönbrunn in Vienna, Austria, worked at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the young Cutak often helped him when his father needed an extra hand to help, beginning in the summer of 1927 during the great St. Louis hailstorm. This was Cutak's introduction to horticulture when he was 19.

Cutak continued to work in this field, serving as an assistant gardener for conservatories in 1927-1934. The following year, he was put in charge of a range of greenhouses at the Garden. At that time, there were only 138 named species of succulents at the Garden, but by 1941 the number jumped to 1300. In July 1942, Cutak founded the Henry Shaw Cactus Society and Succulent Society, an affiliate chapter of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, and served as its president for many years. 

In 1956, Cutak was promoted to being in charge of succulents and served as the greenhouse superintendent until 1966 when he became its public relations manager—a position that he held until 1972 (one year before his death.) 

He also served as president of the St. Louis Horticultural Society and was in charge of laying out the plans for the original and celebrated Climatron, the first of its kind. 

Besides cacti and succulents, Cutak also had a keen interest in bromeliads, aroids, aquatics, and

ornamental trees and shrubs. He traveled to many places, botanizing in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. He made two expeditions to Mexico, in 1939 (Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, and Querétaro) and 1947 (Hidalgo, Querétaro, Oaxaca, and Chiapas). His collecting companions on these trips were Gus Bantel, Rolf Schauer, Gunther Boker, Eric Halbinger, and Thomas MacDougal.

Over his career, Cutak wrote 304 articles, pamphlets, and bulletins (including Spine Chats) for 24 different publications. Forty of his articles appeared in the Cactus And Succulent Society Of America (CSSA) Journal, 1932-1967, including the first one he ever wrote, and 74 of his articles were published by The Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin, between 1933 and 1970. For 25 years, he Lad wrote Spine Chats for the CSSA Journal; the first version appeared in Vol. 15(1), January 1943. 

In March 1956, Cutak published his first book, Cactus Guide. (The book was reprinted in 1976.) In 1959, he published his next, and only other, book Cactus Personified.

Death

Cutak died of cancer on January 18, 1973, in St. Louis, Missouri.