Tschudi, Johann Jakob b. July 25, 1818; Glarus, Switzerland d. October 8, 1889; Jakobshof, near Wiener Neustadt,Austria
Swiss naturalist, diplomat, and travel writer. Tschudi came from an old, respected family, whose family tree goes back to the tenth century. He studied zoology and other natural sciences under Lorenz Oken at the University of Zurich.
He then went on to study under the famous naturalist Louis Agassiz in Neuenburg (Neuchatel), which was then still under Prussian rule. In 1837 the Natural History Museum in Neuchatel commissioned him to create a collection of exotic animals. After brief periods studying in Leiden and Paris he sailed from Le Havre in February 1838 and reached Callao, the port of Lima, in August.Peru had gained independence 13 years previously, but was politically highly unstable. The young state was at war with Chile, and various political groups were fighting in the interior. In spite of this situation, which endangered his life at times, Tschudi prepared for a long stay. He traveled large sections of the coastal region, the Andes, and the jungles on the eastern face of the Cordilleras; he earned his way by practicing as a doctor. Tschudi remained in Peru for 4 years and completed his task: 600 bird skins, 70 skins of mammals, 2,000 insects, and other zoological objects reached the museum in Neuchatel. After his return at the beginning of 1843, he completed his doctorate (Dr. med.) and published the scientific findings of his journey. First to appear were five volumes on the fauna of Peru (Untersuchungen uber die Fauna Peruana, 1844—1846), followed shortly afterward by a two-volume account of his travels (Peru. Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1838-1842, 1846), which was translated into English in 1847 and 1849 (Travels in Peru, during the Years 1838-1842 on the Coast, in the Sierra, across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Principal Forests). In 1851, together with Mariano de Rivero, he published an illustrated work on archaeology and ancient Peruvian art (Antiguedades Peruanas; translated into English in 1853 as Peruvian Antiquities), followed by the linguistic study Die Kechuasprache (The Kechua Language, 2 vols., 1853; a third volume on grammar came out in 1884).
The breadth of the topics covered by these publications pays tribute to the wide range of his knowledge.In 1857 Tschudi sailed from Hamburg to begin his second South American journey. From Rio de Janeiro he visited the town of Petropolis, settled by Germans, which had been founded in 1843 and then the provinces of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo, reached the territory of the Botokudi, and then returned to Rio. He then traveled through the southern Brazilian provinces to Buenos Aires. Here he began his most dangerous undertaking: the east-west crossing of the Andes in sixty-six days (June 18—August 13, 1858). He was the first to follow this route via Rosario, Cordoba, Catamarca, and Santa Maria to Molinos. Here he began the difficult mountain crossing in the Atacama desert, before reaching the Pacific coast at Cobija. The account of this journey (Reise durch die Andes von Sud-Amerika, von Cordova nach Cobija im Jahre 1858 [Journey through the Andes of South America, from Cordova to Cobija in the year of 1858], 1860) was accompanied by a map showing his itinerary, drawn by August Petermann at a scale of 1:1,000,000.
Tschudi visited the American continent a third time, living in Brazil as the Swiss envoy from 1860 to 1862. The purpose of this stay was to regulate the conflicts that had developed between Swiss settlers and Brazilian landowners because of the half-lease system (parceria). Tschudi visited all the important colonized areas and achieved a consular treaty. He published an account of his many years in South America in five volumes, which appeared from 1866 to 1869 (Reisen durch Sudamerika [Journeys through South America]) and became one of the classics of nineteenth-century travel writing. Tschudi’s last position was as Swiss ambassador in Vienna from 1872 to 1883.
Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Brazil
References and Further Reading
Giesel, Elisabeth. “Johann Jakob von Tschudis Reiseskizzen aus Peru.” Wiener ethnohistorische Blatter No. 28 (1985): 43-57.
Graf, Robert. “Nachwort.” In Tschudi, Johann Jakob: Reiseskizzen aus Peru. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1988, pp. 176-187.
Schazmann, Paul-Emile. Johann Jakob von Tschudi. Forscher, Arzt, Diplomat. Zurich: Verlag Mensch und Arbeit, 1956.
Troll, Carl, and Hanno Beck. “Johann Jakob Tschudi. Zu seinem Leben und Werk.” In Tschudi, Johann Jakob: Reisen durch Sudamerika. (Quellen und Forschungen zur Geschichte der Geographie und des Reisens; 9.) Stuttgart: Brockhaus, 1971, pp. 5-26.