Johann David Wyss

Johann David Wyss ( born May 28, 1743 Bern, † January 11, 1818 ) was a Reformed pastor and writer from Switzerland.

Life and work

Johann David Wyss was the son of a high-ranking officer and studied theology and philosophy at the Berne Academy and the Academy of Lausanne. From 1766 he was chaplain in a regiment Bernese abroad. In 1775 he became pastor in Seedorf and two years later at the Berner Munster. In 1803 he retired to his estate to Köniz and devoted himself mainly to its fruit and beekeeping.

" The Swiss Robinson »

He gained great notoriety for his book The Swiss Robinson on the model of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. He had written it in the years 1794 to 1798 for his children and there is no intention to publication. This occurred only when his son Johann Rudolf Wyss 1812 decided to edit the book. It became a bestseller and is still the translated into most languages ​​book from Switzerland.

On the basis of the Swiss Robinson to Frederick Marryat own Robinsonade Masterman Ready, or the Wreck of the Pacific have created, in turn, as a Germanized version Sigismund Rüstig 1841 in the German-speaking world for his time most popular adventure story for young people.

Jules Verne published in 1900, based on the novel The Swiss Robinson by Wyss as a continuation of the novel The second fatherland. In addition, Verne had from this book to the novel Uncle Robinson, an unfinished novel from the period 1869 to 1870 and inspired to write his novel The School of Robinsons from 1882.

Works

• The Swiss Robinson. Retold by Peter Stamm. Willi glass Auer ( images ), Peter von Matt ( epilogue ). S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-596-85507-0.