About
Rodolphe Töpffer, born in Geneva in 1799, is considered one of the inventors of comics. Son of the painter Wolfgang-Adam Töpffer, he first aimed at painting but an eye disease turned him away. He opened a boarding school for boys in 1824, then became professor of rhetoric at the Academy of Geneva in 1832. In parallel, he created 'picture stories' combining text and drawing, published from 1833. His most famous work, Histoire de M. Vieux Bois, appeared in 1837 and was translated in the United States in 1842. He also authored illustrated travel narratives like Voyages en zigzag (1844) and numerous essays. He died in Geneva in 1846.
* 1799-01-28 — † 1846-06-08
Major works
- Histoire de M. Jabot (1833)comic
- Histoire de M. Vieux Bois (1837)comic
- Voyages en zigzag (1844)illustrated travel narrative
- Le Presbytère (1839)epistolary novel
- Essais d'Autographie (1842)essay
Key milestones
- 1824Opens his boarding school for boys in Geneva.
- 1832Appointed professor of rhetoric at the Academy of Geneva.
- 1842Histoire de M. Vieux Bois is published in the United States as The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck.
Themes
educationtravelsocial satireart and criticismcomics
Sources: hls-dhs-dss.ch · archives.bge-geneve.ch · lambiek.net