Johann David Wyss (May 28, 1743 - January 11, 1818) was a Swiss author, best remembered for his book The Swiss Family Robinson in 1812. It is said that he was inspired by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but wanted to write a story from which his own children would learn, as the father in the story taught important lessons to his children. The Swiss Family Robinson was first published in German in 1812 and translated into English two years later. It has since become one of the most popular books of all time. The book was edited by his son, Johann Rudolf Wyss, a scholar who wrote the Swiss national anthem. Another son, Johann Emmanuel Wyss, illustrated the book. Unlike his son Johann Rudolf, who died at the age of 48, Johann David Wyss lived up to the age of 74, dying in 1818. Wyss has been described as an author whose style was firmly Christian and moral in tone.

There are also many underlying tones of Christianity throughout the book and in the case of many of the characters and their morales. Jules Verne declared that The Swiss Family Robinson was one of his favorite books. He liked it so much that he decided to write a sequel entitled The Castaways of the Flag, published in 1900, many years after Wyss's death.