Albert Bitzius

Albert Bitzius (1797-1854), Swiss novelist and short-story writer, also known by his pseudonym, Jeremias Gotthelf. Bitzius was born in Murten, Switzerland, and he studied theology in Bern and Göttingen. From 1820 to 1824 he was curate under his father, a Protestant pastor. Also during that time, Bitzius taught school, gaining the detailed knowledge of elementary education that later filled his two-volume novel, Leiden und Freuden eines Schulmeisters (The Joys and Sorrows of a Schoolmaster, 1838-1839). Many of his other writings were about life in the rural countryside and the problems of the individual in a growing society. Bitzius wrote his books in the German language. From 1832 until his death in 1854, Bitzius was pastor of the village of Lützelflüh, outside of Bern.