It was written by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss, edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss and illustrated by his 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. Many of the episodes have to do with Christian-oriented moral lessons such as frugality, husbandry, acceptance, cooperation, etc. The family includes the sons Fritz, Ernest, Jack and Franz. It also includes their mother and their father who is the main character and narrator. The adventures are presented as a series of lessons in natural history and the physical sciences. It resembles other, similar educational books for children in this period. Examples include Charlotte Turner Smith's "Rural Walks: in Dialogues intended for the use of Young Persons" (1795), "Rambles Further: A continuation of Rural Walks" (1796), "A Natural History of Birds, intended chiefly for young persons (1807)". But the novel differs in that it is modeled on Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", a genuine adventure story. It presents a geographically impossible array of large mammals that probably could never have existed together on a single island.
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. It is based on Isabelle de Montolieu's 1813 French adaptation and 1824 continuation (from chapter 37) "Le Robinson suisse, ou, Journal d'un père de famille, naufragé avec ses enfants" in which were added further adventures of Fritz, Franz, Ernest, and Jack. Other English editions that claim to include the whole of the Wyss-Montolieu narrative are by W. H. Davenport Adams (1869–1910) and Mrs H. B. Paull (1879).
Although movie and TV adaptations typically name the family "Robinson", it is not a Swiss name. The "Robinson" of the title refers to Robinson Crusoe. The German name translates as "the Swiss Robinson", and identifies the novel as belonging to the Robinsonade genre, rather than as a story about a family named Robinson.
The novels in one form or another have also been adapted numerous times, sometimes changing location and/or time period:
Book sequels
Film versions
Television series
Made for TV movies
Comic book series
Stage adaptations
Computer adventure game
Parody
Kriens
Kriens is a municipality in Lucerne-Land in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.
Barre des Écrins
The Barre des Écrins is a mountain in the French Alps. It is the highest peak of the "Massif des Écrins" and of the Dauphiné Alps mountain range. It is in the Écrins National Park (), one of the ten French national parks.
It is the only mountain or higher in France that is outside the Mont Blanc Massif. Before the annexation of Savoy, that was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, in 1860, it was the highest mountain in France.
Barre des Écrins is in the northeast of the Hautes-Alpes department (commune of Pelvoux), Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeast France.
The south side of the mountain is rocky while the soil of the north side is covered with ice because here starts a glacier, the "Glacier Blanc".
Barre des Écrins is surrounded by four glaciers:
The first recorded ascension of the peak was made on 25 June 1864 by the Englishmen Adolphus Warburton Moore, Horace Walker and Edward Whymper, guided by Michel Croz from Chamonix and Christian Almer from Switzerland.
William Auguste Coolidge, a mountain climber from United States made the first direct climb up the north side of the Barre des Ecrins in July 1870.
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. Unfinished stone from a quarry is called rubble. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash'. Where present, it becomes more noticeable when the land is ploughed or worked.
"Rubble-work" is a name applied to several types of masonry. One kind, where the stones are loosely thrown together in a wall between boards and grouted with mortar almost like concrete, is called in Italian "muraglia di getto" and in French "bocage". In Pakistan, walls made of rubble and concrete, cast in a formwork, are called 'situ', which probably derives from Sanskrit (similar to the Latin 'in situ' meaning 'made on the spot').
Walls that use large stones put together without any attempt at courses is called rubble walling. They are laid at random and are held together with mortar. Where similar work is laid in courses, it is known as coursed rubble. Dry-stone walling is somewhat similar work done without the use of mortar. It is bound together by the fit of the stones and the regular placement of stones which extend through the thickness of the wall. A rubble wall built with mortar will be stronger if assembled in this way. Building foundations made of rubble almost always leak water and are damp.
Rubble walls () are found all over the island of Malta. Similar walls are also frequently found in Sicily and the Arab countries. The various shapes and sizes of the stones used to build these walls look like stones that were found in the area lying on the ground or in the soil. It is most probable that the practice of building these walls around the field was inspired by the Arabs during their rule in Malta, as in Sicily who were also ruled by the Arabs around the same period. The Maltese farmer found that the technique of these walls was very useful especially during an era where resources were limited. Rubble walls are used to serve as borders between the property of one farm from the other. A great advantage that rubble walls offered is that when heavy rain falls, their structure would allow excessive water to pass through and therefore, excess water will not ruin the products. Soil erosion is minimised as the wall structure allows the water to pass through but it traps the soil and prevents it from being carried away from the field. One can see many rubble walls on the side of the hills and in valleys where the land slopes down and consequently the soil is in greater danger of being carried away.
Francisco de Sá de Miranda
Francisco de Sá de Miranda (28 August 1481 – 17 May 1558) was a Portuguese poet.
Sá de Miranda was the first author of Renaissance in Portugal. He was born in Coimbra. His parents were Gonçalo Mendes de Sá and Inês de Melo. He learned Greek, Latin and philosophy at Santa Cruz Monastery. Then he went to Lisbon to study law at the university. He travelled to Italy, where he met many poets including Vittoria Colonna. When he returned to Portugal, he worked for the king.
His main merit for Portuguese literature is that he introduced Italian verse forms. Sá de Miranda was the first author to write sonnets in Portugal. His best known poem is the sonnet "O sol é grande, caem co'a calma as aves". It was translated into English by John Adamson in "Lusitania illustrata".
Alicia Machado
Alicia Machado (born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-born American beauty pageant winner, singer and actress. She was Miss Universe 1996. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to win the Miss Universe.
Before she was Miss Universe 1996, she was Miss Venezuela 1995.
In 2016, Machado became a United States citizen. Also in 2016, Machado spoke out against Donald Trump. She said that he had called her "Miss Piggy" because of her weight during her year as Miss Universe. She said that Trump also called her "Miss Housekeeping" because she was Latina.
Religious order
A religious order is a group of people who live in some way set apart from others, in accordance with their specific religious devotion. Their principles are usually created from their founder's religious practice. The order may comprise initiates (laity) and, in some traditions, ordained clergy. Religious orders exist in many of the world's religions. Many orders operate monasteries.
Gregorio Honasan