BACHOFEN, J. J. (1815–1887) was a Swiss scholar of mythology and Roman law and history. Through his most famous books, Gräbersymbolik (1859) and Mutterrecht (Mother right, 1861), Bachofen had a great influence on twentieth-century culture, even in fields not closely related to the history of religions.

Life

Johann Jakob Bachofen was born to a patrician family in Basel, Switzerland, on December 22, 1815. His father, Johann Jacob Bachofen, owned a highly successful silk ribbon business that had belonged to the family since 1720. The wealth accumulated by the Bachofens was visible in their immense real-estate holdings, as well as in their rich art collection. Bachofen's mother, Valeria Merian, came from one of Basel's most distinguished families of important businessmen, politicians, and university professors.

Bachofen was brought up to be a pious churchgoing member of the French reformed Christian community. In 1831 he became a student at the Pädagogium, the...