Contents

1 History
2 Plot
3 Characters
4 Other adaptations
5 See also
6 Footnotes
7 References
8 External links
History
Written by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss, edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss and
illustrated by another son, Johann Emmanuel Wyss, the novel was intended to teach
his four sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world
and self-reliance. Wyss' attitude toward education is in line with the teachings of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and many episodes involve Christian-oriented moral lessons
such as frugality, husbandry, acceptance and cooperation.[1]

Wyss presents adventures as lessons in natural history and physical science. This
resembles other educational books for young ones published about the same time.
These include Charlotte Turner Smith's Rural Walks: in Dialogues intended for the
use of Young Persons (1795), Rambles Farther: A continuation of Rural Walks (1796),
A Natural History of Birds, intended chiefly for young persons (1807). But Wyss'
novel is also modeled after Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, an adventure story
about a shipwrecked sailor first published in 1719 and the source of the "Robinson"
in the title "Swiss Family Robinson".[1]

The book presents a geographically impossible array of large mammals and plants
that probably could never have existed together on a single island, for the
children's education, nourishment, clothing and convenience.

Over the years there have been many versions of the story with episodes added,
changed, or deleted. Perhaps the best-known English version is by William H. G.
Kingston, first published in 1879.[1] It is based on Isabelle de Montolieu's 1813
French adaptation and 1824 continuation (from chapter 37) Le Robinson suisse, ou,
Journal d'un p��re de famille, naufrag�� avec ses enfants in which were added
further adventures of Fritz, Franz, Ernest, and Jack.[1] Other English editions
that claim to include the whole of the Wyss-Montolieu narrative are by W. H.
Davenport Adams (1869�C1910) and Mrs H. B. Paull (1879). As Carpenter and Prichard
write in The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (Oxford, 1995), "with all
the expansions and contractions over the past two centuries (this includes a long
history of abridgments, condensations, Christianizing, and Disney products), Wyss's
original narrative has long since been obscured."[1] The closest English
translation to the original is William Godwin's 1816 translation, reprinted by
Penguin Classics.[2]

Although movie and television adaptations typically name the family "Robinson", it
is not a Swiss name. The German title translates as The Swiss Robinson which
identifies the novel as part of the Robinsonade genre, rather than a story about a
family named Robinson.

Plot

The Map of "New Switzerland."

Wiki letter w.svg
This article needs an improved plot summary. (January 2012)
The novel opens with the family in the hold of a sailing ship, weathering a great
storm. The ship's passengers evacuate without them, and William and Elizabeth and
their four children (Fritz, Ernest, Jack and Francis) are left to survive alone. As
the ship tosses about, the father �C William �C prays that God will spare them.

The ship survives the night and the family finds themselves within sight of a
tropical desert island. The next morning, they decide to get to the island they can
see beyond the reef. With much effort, they construct a vessel out of tubs. After
they fill the tubs with food and ammunition and all other articles of value they
can safely carry, they row toward the island. Two dogs from the ship named Turk and
Juno swim beside them. The ship's cargo of livestock (including chickens, domestic
ducks, domestic geese, and domestic pigeons), guns & powder, carpentry tools,
books, a disassembled pinnace, and provisions have survived.

Upon reaching the island, the family set up a makeshift camp. The father knows that
they must prepare for a long time on the island and his thoughts are as much on
provisions for the future as for their immediate wants. William and his oldest son
Fritz spend the next day exploring the island.

The family spends the next few days securing themselves against hunger. William and
Fritz make several trips to the ship in their efforts to bring ashore everything
useful from the vessel. The domesticated animals on the ship are towed back to the
island. There is also a great store of firearms and ammunition, hammocks for
sleeping, carpenter��s tools, lumber, cooking utensils, silverware, and dishes.
Initially they construct a treehouse, but as time passes (and after Elizabeth is
injured climbing the stairs down from it), they settle in a more permanent dwelling
in part of a cave. Fritz rescues a young Englishwoman (Jenny Montrose) shipwrecked
elsewhere on their island.

The book covers more than ten years. The father and older boys explore various
environments and develop homes and gardens in various sites about the island. At
the end, the father wonders if they will ever again see the rest of humanity.
Eventually a British ship that is in search of Jenny Montrose anchors near the
island and is discovered by the family. The captain is given the journal containing
the story of their life on the island which is eventually published. Several
members of the family choose to continue to live tranquilly on their island while
several of them return to Europe with the British ship.

Characters
William �C The father. He is the narrator of the story and leads the family. He
knows an enormous amount of information on almost everything the family comes
across, demonstrating bravery and self-reliance.
Elizabeth �C The mother. She is intelligent and resourceful, arming herself even
before leaving the ship with a "magic bag" filled with supplies, including sewing
materials and seeds for food crops. She is also a remarkably versatile cook, taking
on anything from porcupine soup to roast penguin.
Fritz �C The oldest of the four boys, he is 15. Fritz is intelligent but impetuous.
He is the strongest and accompanies his father on many quests.
Ernest �C The second oldest of the boys, he is 13. Ernest is the most intelligent,
but a less physically active boy, often described by his father as "indolent". Like
Fritz however, he comes to be an excellent shot.
Jack �C The third oldest of the boys, 11 years old. He is thoughtless, bold,
vivacious, and the quickest of the group.
Franz (sometimes translated as Francis) �C The youngest of the boys, he is 8 years
old when the story opens. He usually stays home with his mother.
Turk �C The family's English dog.
Juno �C The family's Danish dog.
Emily Montrose (called Jenny in Montolieu's version) �C An English girl found on
Smoking Rock near the end of the novel. She is shy but is soon adopted into the
family. Not a character in the original German, Emily was invented by Isabelle de
Montolieu.
Nip (also called Knips or Nips in some editions) �C An orphan monkey adopted by the
family after their dogs Turk and Juno have killed his mother. The family use him to
test for poisonous fruits.
Fangs �C A jackal that was tamed by the family.
Other adaptations
The novels in one form or another have also been adapted numerous times, sometimes
changing location and/or time period:

Book sequels

Willis the Pilot: a sequel to The Swiss family Robinson; or, Adventures of an
emigrant family wrecked on an unknown coast of the Pacific Ocean (1858) has been
attributed to Johann Wyss or to Johanna Spyri, author of Heidi.
Second Fatherland (Seconde Patrie, 1900), by Jules Verne takes up the story at the
point where Wyss's tale left off. It has also been published in two volumes, Their
Island Home and Castaways of the Flag.
Return to Robinson Island (2015), by TJ Hoisington, Based on the original 1812
Swiss Family Robinson novel.[3]
Film versions

Al-?urfa al-?ahiyya f�� a?b��r al-?A?ila al-Sw��siyya, Arabic translation (c. 1900)
Swiss Family Robinson (1940 film)
Swiss Cheese Family Robinson (Mighty Mouse short, 1947)
Swiss Family Robinson (1960 Walt Disney film)
The Swiss Family Robinson (1976)
The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson (1998)
Television series

English Family Robinson (1957)

Lost in Space (1965�C1968) �C A science fiction adaptation in which the Robinsons
are a family of explorers whose spacecraft goes off course. Identical concept to,
but not based upon, the Space Family Robinson comic book listed below.
Swiss Family Robinson (1974) �� Canadian series starring Chris Wiggins
Swiss Family Robinson (1975) �� American series starring Martin Milner
The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (1981) �� An anime
series.
The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson (1998) �� New Zealand series starring
Richard Thomas
Made for TV movies

The Swiss Family Robinson (1958)

The Swiss Family Robinson (1973)
The Swiss Family Robinson (1973)
The Swiss Family Robinson (1975)
Beverly Hills Family Robinson (1998)
The New Swiss Family Robinson (1998) �� Starring Jane Seymour, James Keach, and
David Carradine
Stranded (2002)
Comic book series

Space Family Robinson (1962�C1984) �C science fiction adaptation

Stage adaptations

Swiss Family Robinson written by Jerry Montoya and performed at B Street Theatre in
Sacramento, California in 2009.
Computer adventure game

Swiss Family Robinson created in 1984 by Tom Snyder Productions for the Apple II
and Commodore 64, published under the Windham Classics label. The player takes the
role of Fritz, the eldest brother.
Parody

The New Swiss Family Robinson by Owen Wister (1882).

See also
icon Novels portal
Robinson Crusoe
Castaway
The Coral Island
Lost in Space
Footnotes
"A Note on Wyss's Swiss Family Robinson, Montolieu's Le Robinson suisse, and
Kingston's 1879 text" by Ellan Moody.
John Seelye, ed. The Swiss Family Robinson. Penguin Classics. 2007. ISBN 978-0-14-
310499-5
"TJ Hoisington Pens the First Swiss Family Robinson Sequel in Over 100 Years".
References
Weber, Marie-H��l��ne (1993). Robinson et robinsonnades: ��tude compar��e de
"Robinson Crusoe" de Defoe, "Le Robinson suisse" de J.R. Wyss, "L'Ile myst��rieuse"
de J. Verne, "Sa majest�� des mouches" de W. Golding, "Vendredi ou les limbes du
Pacifique" de M. Tournier, Ed. Universitaires du Sud.
Wyss, Johann. The Swiss Family Robinson, ed. John Seelye. Penguin Classics, 2007.
The only unabridged complete text genuinely by Wyss (and his son) currently in
print.
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Swiss Family Robinson
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Swiss Family Robinson.
The Swiss Family Robinson, available at Internet Archive (original edition scanned
books with illustrations in color)
The Swiss Family Robinson, available at Google Books (original edition scanned
books with illustrations)
The Swiss Family Robinson at Project Gutenberg (plain text and HTML). Version
unknown, ca. 1850, missing two pages of text.
The Swiss Family Robinson at Project Gutenberg (plain text). Kingston's 1879
translation.
"A Note on Wyss's Swiss Family Robinson, Montolieu's Le Robinson suisse, and
Kingston's 1879 text", by Ellen Moody. Information about the book and its many
versions.
The Swiss Family Robinson public domain audiobook at LibriVox
[hide] v t e
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
Sequel novels
The Castaways of the Flag (1900)
Films
Perils of the Wild (1925) Swiss Family Robinson (1940) Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Television
Lost in Space (1965) Swiss Family Robinson (1974) Swiss Family Robinson (1975) The
Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (1981) The Swiss Family
Robinson (1975) Beverly Hills Family Robinson (1997) The New Swiss Family Robinson
(1998) Stranded (2002)
Other
Space Family Robinson
Categories: Swiss Family Robinson1812 novelsSwiss children's novelsSwiss emigrants
to AustraliaSwiss familiesSwiss novelsFictional familiesFictional castawaysNovels
set on islandsFictional Swiss peopleGerman-language novelsSwiss novels adapted into
filmsNovels about survivalNovels adapted into television programs