Jean Massieu (; 1772 – July 21, 1846) was a pioneering deaf educator. One of six

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

siblings, he was denied schooling until age thirteen when he met Abbé Sicard, who enrolled him in the Institute national des jeunes sourds de Bordeaux-Gradignan, the Bordeaux School for Deaf Children. There he learned to read and write

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and later helped develop the first formalized

French Sign Language French Sign Language (french: langue des signes française, LSF) is the sign language of the deaf in France and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to ''Ethnologue'', it has 100,000 native signers. French Sign Language is related ...

. This

was later adapted into

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

. He taught at the famous school for the deaf in Paris where

Laurent Clerc Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American Deaf History. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and dea ...

was one of his students. He began work after a scandal in Paris in Rodez and dedicated his life to educating deaf children. Later he founded a deaf school in

Lille, France Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

Film

Jean Massieu is portrayed in the fictional film ''

Sign Gene A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

'', the superhero film about deaf mutants who have

superpowers A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural st ...

through the use of

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

, as the fourth great-grandfather of Kate Massieu (played by

Carola Insolera Carola Insolera is a Norwegian born fashion model signed with Women Management Milano. Early life Insolera was born deaf and comes from a deaf family. Since early age, she was a very active entertainer in the sign language community, has work ...

) the girlfriend of the leading character Tom Clerc, descendant of

. The film is written and produced by

Emilio Insolera Emilio Insolera (born 29 January 1979) is an actor and producer, known for '' Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' (2017).Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine In 2022, Insolera had a role in Simon Kinberg's ''The 355''. Early life an ...

and was screened in cinemas in September 2017.

Quotes attributed to him

* "Let the Englishman have his coffee, and let me have my ham."—Jean Massieu * "Gratitude is the memory of the heart", which has become a proverb in the French language.

References

External links

* Massieu, Jean; Laurent Clerc; and Roch Ambroise Cucurron Sicard. 1815
A collection of the most remarkable definitions and answers of Massieu and Clerc, deaf and dumb, to the various questions put to them, at the public lectures of the Abbé Sicard, in London.
London: Printed for Massieu and Clerc, by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields
"Jean Massieu," 1849 article written by Laurent Clerc

Massieu, Jean (Gallaudet University Library web page)

Date of the death of Jean Massieu, in ''Journal de Toulouse'', 28 July 1846
"Jean Massieu, ancien professeur à l'Institut royal des sourds-muets de Paris, fondateur et directeur honoraire de l'institution des sourds-muets de Lille, est mort dans cette ville le 21 juillet, à l'àge de soixante-quinze ans. M. Massieu avait été l'élève, l'ami et le successeur de l'illustre abbé Sicard." 1772 births 1846 deaths Deaf activists Deaf people from France Educators of the deaf French educators French Sign Language {{deaf-stub

Film

Quotes attributed to him

See also

References

External links