Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ( pes-tuh-LOT-see; German: [ˈjoːhan ˈhaɪnrɪç pɛstaˈlɔtsiː] ; Italian: [pestaˈlɔttsi]; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach.
He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland and wrote many works explaining his revolutionary modern principles of education. His motto was "Learning by head, hand and heart". Thanks to Pestalozzi, illiteracy in 18th-century Switzerland was overcome almost completely by 1830.
Pestalozzi was born on 12 January 1746, in Zürich, Switzerland. His father was a surgeon and oculist who died at age 33 when Pestalozzi, the second of three children, was five years old; he belonged to a family who had fled the area around Locarno due to its Protestant faith. His mother, whose maiden name was Hotze, was a native of Wädenswil on the lake of Zürich. The family also had a maid, Barbara Schmid, nicknamed Babeli. After the death of Pestalozzi's father it was only through the help of Babeli that Pestalozzi's mother could financially support the family.
In 1761, Pestalozzi attended the Gymnasium (Collegium Humanitatis) and received instruction from educators Johann Jakob Bodmer, who taught history and politics, and Johann Jakob Breitinger, who taught Greek and Hebrew.
On holidays Pestalozzi would visit his maternal grandfather, a clergyman in Höngg. Together they would travel to schools and the houses of parishioners. It was through these visits that Pestalozzi learned the poverty of country peasants. He saw the consequences of putting children to work in factories at an early age and he saw how little the Catechism schools did for them. Their ignorance, suffering and inability to help themselves left an impression on Pestalozzi, an impression that would guide his future educational ideas.
Pestalozzi was educated to become a clergyman. As a clergyman, he expected to have ample opportunity to carry out his educational ideas; however, the failure of his first sermon and influence from philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau led him to pursue a career in law and political justice.
The ideal system of liberty, also, to which Rousseau imparted fresh animation, increased in me the visionary desire for a more extended sphere of activity, in which I might promote the welfare and happiness of the people. Juvenile ideas as to what it was necessary and possible to do in this respect in my native town, induced me to abandon the clerical profession, to which I had formerly leaned, and for which I had been destined, and caused the thought to spring up within me, that it might be possible, by the study of the law, to find a career that would be likely to procure for me, sooner or later, the opportunity and means of exercising an active influence on the civil condition of my native town, and even of my native land.
Young adulthood and early political aspirations, 1765–1767
During the mid-18th century the government in Switzerland condemned Rousseau's Emile and Social Contract, saying they were dangerous to the State and the Christian religion. A prison sentence was issued upon Rousseau. Bodmer, Pestalozzi's former professor, embraced the teachings of Rousseau and founded the Helvetic Society with about 20 other philosophers in 1765. Their goal was the advancement of freedom. The 19-year-old Pestalozzi was an active member, contributing many articles to the Society's newspaper, Der Erinnerer.
Pestalozzi brought to light several cases of official corruption and was believed to be an accessory to the escape of a fellow newspaper contributor. Although he was later proven innocent, he was under arrest for three days. These events caused Pestalozzi to have many political enemies and destroyed any hope of a legal career.
After the failure of his political aspirations and at the suggestion of several friends, Pestalozzi decided to become a farmer. During this time, Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli, who was also a member of the Helvetic Society, attracted widespread attention regarding his successful business model. He had converted a large plot of worthless land into several valuable farms. In 1767 Pestalozzi visited Tschiffeli to learn about his method. After a year with Tschiffeli, Pestalozzi purchased 15 acres of waste land in the neighborhood of Zürich. He obtained financial support from a Zürich banker, bought more land and, in 1769, he married Anna Schulthess.
Pestalozzi began to build a house on the heavily mortgaged property, calling it "Neuhof". The land he had bought, however, was unsuitable to farm. Unfavorable reports led the banker to withdraw his support. Pestalozzi added a wool-spinning business to the farm, hoping to improve his financial situation. The challenges increased as much as his debt. Three months after their financial support was withdrawn, Schulthess gave birth to the couple's only son, Jean-Jacques Pestalozzi. He was nicknamed Schaggeli and often had epileptic fits that led Pestalozzi and Schulthess to worry constantly about his health.
Transition from farm to industrial school at Neuhof
After the failure of his farming venture, Pestalozzi wanted to help the poor. He had been poor himself most of his life and had observed orphans who gained apprenticeships as farmers only to be overworked and underfed. He desired to teach them how to live self-respecting lives. This led him to the conception of converting Neuhof into an industrial school. Against the wishes of his wife's family, Pestalozzi gained the support of philosopher Isaak Iselin of Basel, who published it in Die Ephemerides, a periodical devoted to social and economic questions. The publication led to subscriptions and loans free of interest. The new foundation had a short period of apparent prosperity, but after a year Pestalozzi's old faults again led the institution to near ruin. An appeal for public support in 1777 brought much-needed help, and Pestalozzi contributed to the periodical a series of letters on the education of the poor. The appeal, however, only postponed the failure of the institution. In 1779, Pestalozzi had to close Neuhof. With help from his friends, Pestalozzi was able to save the house at Neuhof for himself and his family to live in. Despite the property being saved, they were in financial ruin and were reduced to poverty. His family connections abandoned him, along with most people who had shown interest in his ideas.
Period of literary activity, 1780–1797
The Evening Hours of a Hermit, 1780
Iselin remained a friend of Pestalozzi and encouraged him to continue writing. In 1780 Pestalozzi published anonymously in Die Ephemerides, a series of aphorisms entitled The Evening Hours of a Hermit. They are his earliest works which outline ideas that would later be known as Pestalozzian. The aphorisms attracted little attention at the time of publication.
Leonard and Gertrude, 1781, 1783, 1785, 1787