View source for Salomon Gessner

{{Short description|Swiss painter and poet (1730–1788)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Salomon Gessner
| image         = Anton Graff Salomon Gessner.jpg
| image_size    = 215px
| caption       = Portrait by [[Anton Graff]] (1765/66)
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = 1 April 1730
| birth_place   = Zurich
| death_date    = 2 March 1788 (aged 57)
| death_place   = Zürich
| nationality   = Swiss
| known_for     = [[Painting]]<br>[[Poetry]]
| training      =
| movement      =
| notable_works =
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
}}
'''Salomon Gessner''' (1 April 1730 – 2 March 1788) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, government official, newspaper publisher, and poet, best known in the latter instance for his ''Idylls''. He was a co-founder of the [[Helvetic Society]] and the first publisher and editor of the ''[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]''.

== Biography ==
His father, Hans Konrad Gessner (1696–1775), was a printer, publisher, bookseller and member of the High Council of Zürich. From the age of six until his death, he lived in a home his father bought, at Münstergasse 9. He began an apprenticeship in 1749, at a bookshop in Berlin, but stayed for only a year, having decided to devote himself to landscape painting and [[etching]]. After a short stay in Hamburg, where he encountered the poetic works of [[Karl Wilhelm Ramler]] and [[Friedrich von Hagedorn]], he also developed an interest in poetry.

He returned home, without definite plans, but felt uninclined to take part in his father's business. Instead, he joined a group of young men, known as the ''Dienstags-Compagnie'', that met for discussions and social activities at the homes of their parents (in winter) or at a vineyard clubhouse in [[Selnau]]. There, they became enraptured by "Naturschwärmerei" (nature enthusiasm or enchantment) and fancied themselves to be ancient [[shepherd]]s.

[[File:Gessner-Woods.png|thumb|left|275px|Wooded Landscape with Figures]]

His first published poem was ''Lied eines Schweizers an sein bewaffnetes Mädchen'' and his first painting was ''Die Nacht'' (1753). His next, longer poem, ''Daphnis'' (1754), was inspired by a translation of [[Longus]] by [[Jacques Amyot]]. The first edition of what would become his best known work, ''Idyllen'', appeared in 1756 and a volume of collected works was issued in 1762. From then until 1772, he concentrated on painting.

In 1761, he was a co-founder of the [[Helvetic Society]] and, that same year, against fierce opposition, married Judith Heidegger (1736–1818), the daughter of one of his father's competitors. A year later, his daughter, Dorothea, was born and he became the artistic director of the {{ill|Porzellanmanufaktur Kilchberg-Schooren|de}}. A son, Konrad, was born the following year.

In 1765, he was elected to represent the porcelain guild on the Zürich High Council. Three years later, he won election as an ''[[Vogt (Switzerland)|Obervogt]]'' (supervisor) for the {{ill|Territoriale Entwicklung Zürichs|de}}, in charge of [[Erlenbach, Switzerland|Erlenbach]], and his son Heinrich was born. After 1776, he held the same office for [[Wipkingen]].

In 1780, he began publishing and editing the ''Zürcher Zeitung'', which became the ''[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]'' in 1821. From 1781 until his death, he held the title of "Sihlherr", the senior administrator of [[Sihlwald]], and was responsible for supplying firewood to Zürich. He spent the summers there, at a cabin in the forest.<ref name="gangdur">[http://www.alt-zueri.ch/turicum/bruecken/gessnerbruecke/gessnerbruecke.html ''Gang dur Alt-Züri: Die Gessnerbrücke.''] Retrieved 19 December 2008.</ref>

In 1792/93, the Gessner Monument was erected in [[Platzspitz park]]. It was designed by {{ill|Alexander Trippel|de}} and was one of the first patriotic monuments in Switzerland. Another monument dedicated to him in [[Bad Dürkheim]] was destroyed by the French in 1794.<ref>''Ein wenig bekanntes Denkmal für Salomon Gessner.'' In: Librarium. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft 1, 1958, S. 5.</ref> A [[commemorative plaque]] has been placed on his lifelong home.<ref name="gangdur"/> Several streets and a bridge have been named after him.
[[File:Zürich - Platzspitzpark - Salomon Gessner IMG 1239.jpg|thumb|215px|The Gessner Monument]]

== Works ==
* ''Idyllen''. Gessner, Zürich 1756. ([http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/show/gessner_idyllen_1756 Digitalized copy, online] @ the Deutsches Textarchiv)
* In 1776, [[George Robinson (bookseller)|George Robinson]] in London published an English translation of Gessner's work as ''New Idylles''.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50049086/ Robinson, George 1736–1801] at [[WorldCat]], accessed 1 May 2020.</ref>
*His collected works were self-published in Zürich from 1777 to 1778. (2 volumes, [http://digital.lb-oldenburg.de/brandes/content/titleinfo/4922 Digitalisate], by the {{ill|Landesbibliothek Oldenburg|de}}). They were translated into French, published in Paris (1786–1793), and Amsterdam (1784) 3 volumes. [[Juliane Giovane]] translated the ''Idyllen'' into Italian.<ref name="Rassegna Pugliese">[[Benedetto Croce]]: ''La Duchessa Giovane.'' In: ''Rassegna Pugliese.'' 30 September 1887, S. 275f. [http://emeroteca.provincia.brindisi.it/Rassegna%20pugliese%20di%20scienze%20lettere%20ed%20arti/1887/30%20Settembre%20N.%2018.pdf Rassegna Pugliese] (PDF-Datei; 3,54&nbsp;MB)</ref> 
*The German edition was reissued in Leipzig in 1841. His ''Briefwechsel mit seinem Sohn'' appeared in Bern and Zürich in 1801. [[Juliane Giovane]] translated the ''Idyllen'' into Italian.<ref name="Rassegna Pugliese"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikisource|Salomon Gessner|works=both}}
* Martin Bircher, et al., ''Salomon Gessner: Maler und Dichter der Idylle 1730–1788.'' Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel 1982, {{ISBN|3-88373-010-6}} (exhibition catalog).
* Paul Leemann-van Elck: ''Salomon Gessner. Sein Lebensbild mit beschreibenden Verzeichnissen seiner literarischen und künstlerischen Werke.'' Orell Füssli, Zürich/Leipzig 1930 (Monograph on Swiss Art #6).

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Salomon Gessner}}
* [http://www.artnet.com/artists/salomon-gessner/ More works by Gessner] @ ArtNet
* {{Cite ADB|9|122|126|Geßner, Salomon|[[Wilhelm Creizenach]], Theodor Süpfle|ADB:Geßner, Salomon (Dichter)}}
* {{NDB|6|346|347|Geßner, Salomon|Kurt Wölfel|118538969}}
* {{DDB|Person|118538969}}
* {{Zeno-Autor|Literatur/M/Gessner,+Salomon}}
* {{HLS|11825}}
* {{SIKART|4022807}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gessner, Solomon}}
[[Category:1730 births]]
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Zurich]]
[[Category:18th-century Swiss poets]]
[[Category:Swiss male poets]]
[[Category:18th-century Swiss painters]]
[[Category:18th-century Swiss male artists]]
[[Category:Swiss male painters]]
[[Category:18th-century male writers]]
[[Category:Neue Zürcher Zeitung people]]