Johann David Wyss (1743-1818) · AuthorAuthor
Johann David Wyss
1743-1818 · Swiss Reformed pastor, author of The Swiss Family Robinson
About Johann David Wyss
Johann David Wyss (1743-1818) was a Swiss Reformed pastor and army chaplain in Bern who composed the story for his four sons, joining adventure to lessons in natural history, mechanics and piety. His son Johann Rudolf Wyss, a professor and folklorist, edited the manuscript and published it as Der Schweizerische Robinson in 1812-1813. English versions multiplied through the nineteenth century; W. H. G. Kingston's 1879 version is among the best known.
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The Swiss Family RobinsonJohann David Wyss
1812 · 19th Century · Novel
The Swiss Family Robinson is told by a Swiss pastor who, with his wife and four sons, emigrates by sea toward a new settlement and is shipwrecked after a week-long storm. The crew abandons the ship in the boats, leaving the family alone on a wreck lodged among rocks near an unknown tropical coast.