Author

Johanna Spyri

· Swiss author of children's stories, best known for Heidi

About Johanna Spyri

Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) was a Swiss author whose Heidi became one of the world’s most translated children’s novels.

Notable works

On this site

Heidi

1880 (Stork trans. 1919) · 19th Century · Novel

Heidi, in Elisabeth P. Stork’s public-domain English translation, tells of a small orphan brought to live with her reclusive Alm-Uncle high in the Swiss Alps, then carried away to Frankfurt’s closed rooms before homesickness and providence return her to mountain air, goats, and fir trees. Johanna Spyri’s novel joins outdoor joy to serious care for the sick, the lonely, and the hard-hearted.