The archives of Swiss writer Johanna Spyriknown worldwide for having written the series of children’s novels “Heidi”have been included in the documentary record “memory of the world” of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). Among these documents are more than 1,000 manuscripts, photographs, original illustrations, letters or records.

Currently, the spyri documents are saved in two Zurich-based institutions: the file johanna spyri (under the Swiss Institute for Youth and the Media) and the Heidi Archive (managed by the Heidiseum cultural project). The University of Zurich, which is in charge of studying Spyri’s famous work, celebrated this recognition by UNESCO in a press release and recalled that the adventures of “Heidi” have been read all over the world and translated to hundreds of languages.

Published between 1880 and 1881, the stories of the alpine girl Heidihis grandfather, his friends Pedro and Clara and the relentless Miss Rottenmeier are still today an icon of Switzerland, where he even has a open-air museum in the town of Maienfeld. But what has truly made Heidi an international character are the numerous adaptations that have told her story through all possible formats, from the well-remembered anime created by Isao Takahata, to “Mad Heidi”, the latest recreation of the novel in bloody horror tone.

“What is fascinating about Heidi’s international career is that her character evokes a multitude of interpretations depending on the cultural, social and political context, interpretations that constantly change and evolve throughout history,” said the University’s media expert. from Zurich, Christine Lötcher.

The “Memory of the World” international registry project was created in 1992 and its mission is to promote document protection and offer guarantees of free access to documents.