Educator. Known as the "Father of the Deaf" he is remembered as one of the founding fathers of deaf education and established the first public school for the deaf. Born into a wealthy family, he originally studied to become a Catholic priest but was denied ordination because he refused to renounce Jansenism, a popular French heresy at the time. He decided to pursue a career in law but was denied a license after being admitted to the bar. He then focused on charity work for the poor in Paris, France and during this time he met two young deaf sisters who communicated by using sign language. Inspired by their efforts, he decided to focus on educating those who were deaf and in 1760 he founded a free public deaf school, the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris, and began developing a system of instruction of the French language and religion. Through his public advocacy and French sign language development, the deaf were able to defend themselves in court for the first time. He died at the age of 77. Two years after his death, the French National Assembly recognized him as a "Benefactor of Humanity" and declared that deaf people had rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. His school was later renamed the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, which remains to this day. One of his deaf pupils, Laurent Clerc, would later co-found the first deaf school in North America.
Educator. Known as the "Father of the Deaf" he is remembered as one of the founding fathers of deaf education and established the first public school for the deaf. Born into a wealthy family, he originally studied to become a Catholic priest but was denied ordination because he refused to renounce Jansenism, a popular French heresy at the time. He decided to pursue a career in law but was denied a license after being admitted to the bar. He then focused on charity work for the poor in Paris, France and during this time he met two young deaf sisters who communicated by using sign language. Inspired by their efforts, he decided to focus on educating those who were deaf and in 1760 he founded a free public deaf school, the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris, and began developing a system of instruction of the French language and religion. Through his public advocacy and French sign language development, the deaf were able to defend themselves in court for the first time. He died at the age of 77. Two years after his death, the French National Assembly recognized him as a "Benefactor of Humanity" and declared that deaf people had rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. His school was later renamed the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, which remains to this day. One of his deaf pupils, Laurent Clerc, would later co-found the first deaf school in North America.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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