Johann Rudolf Wyss

Johann Rudolf Wyss (born March 4, 1782, Bern, Switz.—died March 21, 1830, Bern) was a folklorist, editor, and writer, remembered for his collections of Swiss folklore and for his completion and editing of his father’s novel Swiss Family Robinson.

Wyss became professor of philosophy at the academy at Bern in 1805 and later chief librarian of the municipal library. He was a collector of Swiss tales and folklore, published in Idyllen, Volkssagen, Legenden und Erzählungen aus der Schweiz (1815). He also edited the Alpenrosen almanac (1811–30), with the collaboration of the best Swiss writers of his time. He wrote “Rufst du, mein Vaterland” (1811), the Swiss national anthem until the second half of the 20th century.

One of Wyss’s most important contributions was the completion and editing of Der schweizerische Robinson (1812–27)—a manuscript originally written by his father, Johann David Wyss, a pastor attached to the cathedral in Bern, for and with his four sons. Translated into English as Swiss Family Robinson in 1814 and into many other languages, the book became one of the most popular novels ever written.