Johann David WyssThe Swiss poet Johann David Wyss was born on May 28, 1743, and died on January 11, 1818. His most famous work is The Swiss Family Robinson (Der schweizerische Robinson), which came out in 1812. He was born in Bern and died there. One story that he wa inspired by was Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. But he wanted to write a story that his own children could learn from, like how the father in the story taught his kids important lessons. The Swiss Family Robinson came out in German first, in 1812. Two years later, it was turned into English. After that, it became one of the most well-known books ever. His son, Johann Rudolf Wyss, edited the book. He is a scholar who is best known for writing the Swiss national song, Rufst du, mein Vaterland. Johann Emmanuel Wyss, another one of Wyss's sons, drew the pictures for the book. He was 74 years old when he died in 1818. He lived twelve years longer than his son Johann Rudolf, who died in 1898 at the age of 48. Writer Wyss was said to have had a "firmly Christian and moral in tone" In addition, there are a lot of Christian themes running through the book, especially in the morals of many of the characters. Read More Read Less