Johann David Wyss

A Swiss pastor and writer born in Bern in 1743, Johann David Wyss is remembered above all as the original author of The Swiss Family Robinson. Britannica describes him as best known for that children's novel, while Wikipedia notes that he wrote the story for his four sons.

The book was shaped as both an adventure and a lesson in self-reliance, family cooperation, and making wise use of the natural world. After Wyss wrote the manuscript, his son Johann Rudolf Wyss completed and edited it for publication, and another son, Johann Emmanuel Wyss, illustrated it.

Wyss died in Bern in 1818. Though little else about his life is widely highlighted in major reference sources, the enduring success of The Swiss Family Robinson made his name part of children's literature far beyond Switzerland.