Johann David Wyss
Johann David Wyss was a Swiss author born in 1743 in Bern, best known for his classic novel "Der schweizerische Robinson," which is widely recognized as "The Swiss Family Robinson." This work, inspired by Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," showcases the adventures of a marooned family who utilize their ingenuity and teamwork to survive on a deserted island. Wyss, who served as a chaplain in the Swiss Army and later became a rector at the Reformed Protestant Cathedral in Bern, wrote the manuscript primarily for the enjoyment of his family, reading it aloud to them as a form of entertainment. The book was initially published posthumously by his son, Johann Rudolph, in the early 1810s, and it has since seen numerous editions and adaptations, including two major films. The text has a complex publication history, with various translations and revisions that have led to some confusion regarding its definitive ending. Illustrations by another of his sons, Johann Emanuel, were included in the original manuscript but were not published. Wyss's work has had a lasting impact, becoming a beloved story across cultures and generations, thanks in part to the efforts of his family to preserve his literary legacy.
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Johann David Wyss
Author
- Born: March 4, 1743
- Birthplace: Bern, Switzerland
- Died: 1818
- Place of death: Bern, Switzerland
Biography
Johann David Von Wyss created only one work; however, it became a worldwide classic, the subject of hundreds of editions and the basis for two major feature films. That book, originally written in German, was Der schweizerische Robinson (better known as The Swiss Family Robinson).
Wyss was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1743. At the age of twenty-three, he became a chaplain in the Swiss Army and later became rector at the Reformed Protestant Cathedral in Berne. He remained a clergyman throughout his life, with his interests centered around his work, his wife, and his four sons.
The creation of the book was a family affair. It was originally conceived as a variation on Daniel Defoe’s 1719 adventure Robinson Crusoe. Like Crusoe, Wyss’s fictional family is marooned on an island and must use ingenuity and teamwork to survive and thrive. Coming out of a popular tradition of Robinsonnades—books imitating Defoe’s original story—Wyss used his own family as the model for the Robinson family. Wyss and his sons were very close, and he created the lengthy two-volume manuscript (which contained more than eight hundred pages) to entertain his family, often reading the text aloud to them.
Wyss probably never considered the notion of publishing the book, and it probably would have been lost to the world without the interventions of Wyss’s second son, Johann Rudolph, who became a scholar and professor of philosophy at the University of Berne. Johann Rudolph edited his father’s original manuscript and published it in 1812-1813, late in his father’s life.
The book had an interesting publication history. The original work, published in German, was first translated into English in 1814. The Baroness Isabelle de Montolieu translated the book into French in 1816, and, with Johann Rudolph’s permission, expanded and revised the ending. Johann Rudolph, apparently dissatisfied with the revised ending, reworked the text, making further changes and additions in 1827. This extended version was again translated into English in 1868. All of these changes resulted in confusion over which ending is the definitive one. In addition, another of Wyss’s sons, Johann Emanuel, created sixty detailed watercolor and gouache drawings that were included in the original handwritten manuscript but never published.
Since that time, the book has been published in more than two hundred editions for both children and adults, including one by American author William Dean Howells. More than a dozen of these have been illustrated editions. The book also served as the basis for two major films, one in 1940 by RKO Pictures, and one in 1960 by Disney. The book became a phenomenon that gathered energy after Wyss’s death in 1818, primarily because Wyss’s family took it upon themselves to keep the legacy of his work alive.