Johann Konrad Amman (1669 – 1724) was a Swiss physician and instructor of non-verbal
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 ...
persons.
Johann Konrad Amman was born at
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...
, Switzerland. After graduating at
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
in 1687 he began to practise at
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, where he gained a great reputation. He was one of the earliest writers on the instruction of the non-verbal deaf, and first called attention to his method in his ''Surdus loquens'' (Amsterdam, 1692), which was often reprinted, and was reproduced by
John Wallis
John Wallis (; la, Wallisius; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal ...
in the ''Philosophical Transactions'' (1698).
His process consisted principally in exciting the attention of his pupils to the motions of his lips and larynx while he spoke, and then inducing them to imitate these movements, until he brought them to repeat distinctly letters, syllables and words. He died at
Warmond
Warmond () is a village and former municipality in the Western Netherlands, north of Leiden in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of 14.42 km² (5.57 mile², 30.7%) of which 4.42 km² (1.71 mile²) is water; ...
, near
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
.
References
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External links
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*
The Talking Deaf Man', at
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amman, Johann Konrad
1669 births
1724 deaths
People from Schaffhausen
17th-century Swiss physicians
18th-century Swiss physicians