Son of Zür­ich phy­si­cian Jo­hann Hein­rich La­va­ter, Jo­hann en­tered the Ac­a­dem­ic Gym­na­si­um in Zü­rich in 1758, and at the end of 1759 be­gan his stu­dies in its the­o­lo­gic­al de­part­ment. Af­ter com­plet­ing his course, he was or­dained in the spring of 1762, but did not un­der­take any re­gu­lar pas­tor­al work un­til Ap­ril 1769, when he was ap­point­ed di­a­co­nus of the Orp­han­age church of Zür­ich, where he be­came pas­tor in 1775. In Ju­ly 1778 he was ap­point­ed di­a­co­nus of St. Pe­ter’s Church, and in De­cem­ber 1786 pas­tor there. Dur­ing the French re­vo­lu­tion­a­ry per­i­od, France put the Swiss can­tons un­der con­tri­bu­tion, and in Ap­ril 1779 de­port­ed 10 of the prin­ci­pal ci­ti­zens of Zür­ich. La­va­ter pro­test­ed the ac­tion in print and from the pul­pit. Con­se­quent­ly, while vi­sit­ing Ba­den, near Zür­ich, he was seized by French dra­goons, May 14, 1799, and was tak­en to Ba­sel, but was al­lowed to re­turn to Zür­ich, Au­gust 16, 1799. When the French un­der Mas­sé­na en­tered Zür­ich on Sep­tem­ber 25, 1799, La­va­ter was shot by a French gre­na­dier; he died of his wounds al­most two months lat­er. His works in­clude:

• Von der Phys­i­og­nom­ik (Leip­zig, Ger­ma­ny: 1772)
• Aussichten in die Weig­keit (Zü­rich: 1768-78)
• Schweizerlieder (Bern, Switz­er­land: 1767)

• Julian, p. 666

1. Ach! nach dein­er Gnade schmacht­et
   • As the Hart for Wa­ter Pant­eth
   • Lord for Thee My Soul Is Thirst­ing
2. Auf dich, mein Va­ter, will ich trau­en
   • On Thee I Build, O Hea­ven­ly Fa­ther
   • On Thee Will I De­pend, My Fa­ther
3. O du, der einst im Grabe lag
   • O Thou, Once Laid With­in the Grave
   • O Thou Who in the Grave Once Lay
4. O Je­sus Chris­tus, wachs in mir
   • O Je­sus Christ, Grow Thou in Me
5. O süss­est­er der Nam­en all
   • O Name, Than Ev­ery Name More Dear
6. Vereinigt zum Ge­bete war
   • Blest Spir­it, by Whose Hea­ven­ly Dew
   • O Ho­ly Ghost! Thy Hea­ven­ly Dew
7. Von dir, O Va­ter, nimmt mein Herz
   • Father! From Thee My Grate­ful Heart