Johann Jakob von Tschudi

Johann Jakob von Tschudi studied at University of Würzburg, Leiden University and University of Zurich. The recorded working language is German. Places of work recorded in the authority are Peru. Positions recorded include ambassador. Works named in the authority record are Antigüedades peruanas.

• Name — Johann Jakob von Tschudi • Birth Name — Johann Jakob von Tschudi • Born — 25 July 1818 • Birthplace — Glarus, Switzerland • Died — 8 October 1889 • Place of death — Lichtenegg, Austria • Occupation — Naturalist, explorer, diplomat

Tschudi was born in Glarus to Johann Jakob Tschudi, a merchant, and Anna Maria Zwicky. He studied natural sciences and medicine at the universities of Neuchâtel, Leiden, and Paris.

Tschudi reached Peru in 1838 and remained about five years, working from Lima and making journeys along the coast, the Andes, and the eastern forests. He collected zoological material, which he used in his later publications on Peruvian fauna. He returned to Europe early in 1843 and settled in Vienna. In 1845, he described 18 new species of South American reptiles. Between 1857 and 1859, he visited Brazil and other countries in South America. Antigüedades peruanas, published in Vienna in 1851, appeared under the names of Tschudi and the Peruvian scientist Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustáriz. In the book, he explained the various skull angles of Peruvians in the context of the Angle of Camper. Tschudi claimed that Camper's facial angles were an "important angle in anthropology", whose "greater or less opening indicates the intellectual superiority of a race, and, up to a certain point, of individuals". He included engravings of a mummified foetus found near Tarma to argue that the cranial shape of the Huancas was not the result of cultural practices after birth.

Tschudi was one of the most prolific authors to document and record the Quechua language in the 19th century. His monumental Die Kechua-Sprache, written in German, included a grammar, corpus, and dictionary of Cusco Quechua. His later Organismus der Khetšua-Sprache is a more theoretical and comparative take on Quechua grammar which, unlike his longer work, considers multiple Quechua variants.

In 1875 Tschudi published his Quechua/German edition of the drama Ollantay. The work engendered a discussion of the origins of the play, with some ascribing it to ancient Incan cultures and others to having been an indigenous reworking of a Hispanic tale.

In 1860, Tschudi was appointed Swiss ambassador to Brazil, a position he held until 1868. During this period, he continued to explore the country and collected plants for the museums of Neuchâtel, Glarus, and Freiburg. In 1868, he was appointed Swiss minister to Vienna.

* * * * * * * * * He also co-edited, with Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustáriz: *

Johann Jakob von Tschudi is recorded as explorer, diplomat, ornithologist, linguist and zoologist.