Johanna Spyri

Johanna Spyri (née Heusser) was born on 12 June 1827 in Hirzel, a rural hamlet in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland.

She began her literary career quite late in life, and was known to often donate the proceeds from her books to charitable causes. She would go on to write thirty-one books, twenty-seven collections of short stories and four brochures.

Tragically, both Spyri’s son and her husband died in 1884. She never remarried and dedicated herself wholly to her literary pursuits and charitable endeavours until her death on 7 July 1901.