Swiss Johann Jakob von Tschudi (1818-1889) and his view of South America

Abstract

Johann Jakob von Tschudi, born in Glarus, Switzerland, visited South America for the first time between 1838 to 1843, when he stayed in Peru. His first visit to Brazil was between 1857 and 1859, to where he would later return in 1860 as the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation. He stayed in Brazil until 1868. These stays resulted several works, among which we can highlight the five volumes of his Reisen durch Südamerika (Travels in South America), a work published in Leipzig by Brockhaus between the years 1866 and 1869, lavishly illustrated with dip pens. Tasked by the Swiss Confederation to verify the situation of Swiss emigrants after the crisis caused by the uprising of Fazenda Ibicaba (as documented by Thomas Davatz), Tschudi not only left us the memory of this immigration, but also that of other European groups, focusing on their clashes with Indigenous peoples and their readings of the African population. In addition to descriptions of urban and rural life in South America, this work is an important source of European views on the continent. We seek to present the work, highlighting aspects that deserve to be researched even further.