Johanna Spyri
Writing
Biography
Johanna Louise Spyri (née Heusser; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers near Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels. In 1852, Johanna Heusser married Bernhard Spyri. Bernhard was a lawyer. Whilst living in the city of Zürich she began to write about life in the country. Her first story, A Leaf on Vrony's Grave, which deals with a woman's life of domestic violence, was published in 1880; the following year further stories for both adults and children appeared, among them the novel Heidi, which she wrote in four weeks. Heidi tells the story of an orphan girl who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps, and is famous for its vivid portrayal of the landscape. Her husband and her only child, both named Bernhard, both died in 1884. Alone, she devoted herself to charitable causes and wrote over fifty more stories before her death in 1901. She was interred in the family plot at the Sihlfeld-A Cemetery in Zürich. An icon in Switzerland, Spyri's portrait was placed on a postage stamp in 1951 and on a 20 CHF commemorative coin in 2009. In April 2010 a professor searching for children's illustrations found a book written in 1830 by a German history teacher, Hermann Adam von Kamp, that Spyri may have used as a basis for Heidi. The 1830 story is titled Adelheide - das Mädchen vom Alpengebirge—translated, "Adelaide, the girl from the Alps". The two stories were alleged to share many similarities in plot line and imagery. Spyri biographer Regine Schindler said it was entirely possible that Johanna may have been familiar with the story as she grew up in a literate household with many books. However, the professor's claims have been examined and afterwards described as "un-scientific", due to 'superficial coincidences' he brings up in descriptions and the many actual differences in the story, that he doesn't, as well as the "Swiss disease" of homesickness already being a common trope in fiction in the eighteenth (nineteenth in the article) century (as well as, while not mentioned in the article, it being discovered before von Kamp was even born) and characters that are either drastically different or not in "Adelaide", at all. Source: Article "Johanna Spyri" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
Heidi, is an eight-year-old Swiss orphan who is given by her aunt to her mountain-dwelling grandfather. She is then stolen back by her aunt from her grandfather to live in the wealthy Sesemann household in Frankfurt, Germany as a companion to Klara, a sheltered, disabled girl in a wheelchair. Heidi is unhappy but makes the best of the situation, always longing for her grandfather.
Heidi
After becoming an orphan, Heidi is forced to live with her grandfather, who lives in the Alps. She learns he's a very bitter man who only accepted by force to take her in. But Heidi's kindness may be able to open his heart. Together with her friends Peter and Clara, she goes on lots of adventures.
Heidi: Girl of the Alps
A plucky young orphan sent to live with her grandfather in the mountains discovers wonder and adventure around every corner.
Heidi
Young Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in the mountains where she discovers the liberty and the beauty of Swiss landscapes. Later when Heidi is forced to become a companion to a young invalid girl in a big town, she discovers just how much she misses the mountains, her grandfather, and her friend Peter.
Heidi
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.
Heidi
In a dystopian Switzerland that has fallen under the fascist rule of an evil cheese tyrant, Swiss mountain girl Heidi transforms herself into a kick-ass female fighting force who sets out to liberate the country from a cheese-fueled machinery of hate.
Mad Heidi
Heidi is orphaned and her uncaring maternal Aunt Dete takes her to the mountains to live with her reclusive, grumpy paternal grandfather, Adolph Kramer. Heidi brings her grandfather back into mountain society through her sweet ways and sheer love. When Dete later returns and steals Heidi away to become the companion of a rich man's wheelchair-bound daughter, the grandfather is heartsick to discover his little girl missing and immediately sets out to get her back.
Heidi
Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.
Heidi
Compilation film of the second half of the series Heidi: Girl of the Alps.
Heidi: Girl of the Alps: Heidi and Clara
When eight-year-old Heidi saves a lynx family and their home from a greedy businessman, she gets her grandfather to come clean with the village community, and she realizes that her beloved little lynx belongs with his family in the wild just as she belongs with her grandfather in the mountains.
Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
Heidi
Orphaned Heidi lives with her reclusive grandfather in the Swiss Alps, where she befriends goatherd Peter. She eventually moves to the city, where she's taken to be a companion to a sickly girl named Clara.
Heidi
Compilation film of the first half of the series Heidi: Girl of the Alps.
Heidi: Girl of the Alps: Mt. Alm
Heidi, a young orphan girl living with her aunt in Frankfurt, is forced to move to the Swiss Alps to live with her ornery grandfather. At first, he resents her presence, but, after a short while, Heidi manages to pierce his gruff exterior, and the two become close. She also befriends a young shepherd named Peter. After three years, Heidi's aunt arrives and demands Heidi's return to Frankfurt.
Heidi
The long-familiar Heidi tale is given a contemporary (and musical) setting as the young heroine leaves her familiar Swiss mountain for the bright lights of Manhattan.
The New Adventures of Heidi
Young orphaned Heidi (Julia Lockwood) is taken to live high in the Swiss Alps with her cantankerous od grandfather (Roger Maxwell) who shuns the mountain community and lives a solitary existence in a remote bothy.
Heidi
Orphan Heidi lives with her grandpa in Swiss Alps. She brings joy to all there. However, her aunt takes her to the city to live as a servant girl to a cold rich strict family and their nice but sad handicapped daughter.
Heidi's Song
After charming her reclusive grandfather and falling in love with the beautiful mountain he calls home, Heidi is uprooted and sent to Frankfurt where she befriends Klara, a young girl confined to a wheelchair.
Heidi
This movie is about one summer holiday in the life of the famous children's book character Heidi, the orphan girl who lives with her grandfather (whom Heidi, like everybody else including the cast list, calls "Alm Uncle") on the outskirts of a small village in the Alps. Heidi has a gift of three carved wooden figures made by a craftsman neighbour: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. However, rather than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, her grandfather and the village doctor gradually teach Heidi the idea that the gifts they bring are faith, charity and hope.
A Gift for Heidi
Heidi is a happy, outgoing orphan who lives with her grandfather in the idyllic scenery of the Swiss Alps. Heidi makes friends quickly and people know they can always rely on her for help. She loves the freedom of life in the mountains, but she also learns how to take on responsibility. Her cheerful nature helps to show others how to handle the challenges of everyday life and still be happy. Heidi’s honesty and natural charm inspires both courage and a joy of life in everyone she meets.