.jpg) Frontispiece by John Gilbert from the 1851 American edition | |
| Author | Johann David Wyss |
|---|---|
| Original title | Der Schweizerische Robinson |
| Translator | William H. G. Kingston |
| Illustrator | Johann Emmanuel Wyss |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Adventure fiction Robinsonade |
| Set in | East Indies, early 19th century |
| Publisher | Johann Rudolph Wyss |
Publication date | 1812 |
| Publication place | Switzerland |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 328 |
| 833.6 | |
| LC Class | PZ7.W996 S |
| Text | The Swiss Family Robinson at Wikisource |
The Swiss Family Robinson (German: Der Schweizerische Robinson, "The Swiss Robinson") is a novel by the Swiss author Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson, Australia goes off course and is shipwrecked in the East Indies. The ship's crew is lost, but the family and several domestic animals survive. They make their way to shore, where they build a settlement, undergoing several adventures before being rescued; some refuse rescue and remain on the island.
The book is the most successful of a large number of "Robinsonade" novels that were written in response to the success of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719). It has gone through a large number of versions and adaptations.