Congresses and exhibitions

In parallel to his commercial activities, Jean Linden was ever-present in the great horticultural exhibitions. These prestigious events are as many showcases at national and international levels for his companies.

Linden starts exhibiting when he returns from his expeditions. In 1837, an exhibition would seemingly have hosted him in Brussels. A Maxillaria virginalis, a species collected by Linden in the San Bartolo forests in February 1839, is shown in 1841 at the Société linnéenne et de Flore. Other international shows welcome the horticulturist in London (Royal Horticultural Society, 1848), in Ghent (Flower shows, starting in 1849), in Amsterdam (Paleis voor de Volksvlijt, 1865), in St. Petersburg in 1869, or still, at the 1867 and 1878 Paris World Fairs. Linden reaps several distinctions and medals in these exhibitions. Furthermore, whenever the occasion arises, he enjoys guiding political figureheads, such as the Empress Eugenie at the Paris Zoological gardens in 1861.

Furthermore, Jean Linden participates to several congresses gathering Europe’s more prominent botanist and horticulturists. He is on the board of the organizational committee for the 1864 and 1876 Brussels congresses, and is a member of the 1866 London International Botanical Congress and the 1869 Saint-Petersburg horticulture and botanical congress. These participations are favoured through his membership to several societies and associations. Hence, in 1861, Linden is an administrator of the Brussels Société linnéenne et de Flore. He will preside over the same association eighteen years on. He is a member of the management committee of the Fédération des Sociétés d’Horticulture de Belgique, and of the Orchidéenne, an association gathering orchid lovers in Belgium.