| Jürg Fortunat Federspiel | |
| Birth Date: | June 28, 1931 |
| Birth Place: | Kemptthal, Canton Zurich |
| Death Place: | Basel, Switzerland |
| Occupation: | Writer |
| Nationality: | Swiss |
| Genre: | short story, historical novel, poetry |
| Notableworks: | The Ballad of Typhoid Mary |
Jürg Fortunat Federspiel (28 June 1931 - 12 January 2007) was a Swiss writer, born in Kemptthal, Canton Zurich. Federspiel authored more than 20 novels and short story collections.[1]
Federspiel grew up in Davos and attended secondary school in Basel. From 1951 he worked as a journalist and film critic for several Swiss newspapers, and spent time in Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the USA.
His first notable work was a collection of short stories, Orangen und Tode ("Oranges and death") in 1961. In the English-speaking world his best-known work was The Ballad of Typhoid Mary.[1] A historical novel about the life of Mary Mallon, it was published in German in 1982, and in English translation a year later by Random House.[2]
Towards the end of his life, he lived alternately in Basel and New York City. His last published book was Mond ohne Zeiger ("Moon without hands"), a collection of poetry, in 2001. He suffered for years with severe diabetes and Parkinson's disease.[1] Federspiel died on 25 February 2007 in Basel, having been missing since 12 January 2007. The cause of death was assumed to be suicide.