Mélanie de Salignac (1741-1763) was a blind French musician whose achievements in the face of her disability were mentioned in the accounts of

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...

. She was born at the , the daughter of financier Pierre Vallet de Salignac and Marie-Jeanne Élisabeth Volland, who was the sister of

Sophie Volland Louise-Henriette Volland, known as Sophie Volland (1716-1784), was a correspondent and lover of Denis Diderot. None of the letters she wrote have survived. Biography Louise-Henriette Volland was born November 27, 1716. She met Diderot in the spring ...

. Her older brother was the politician . She was born blind long before the invention of

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

in 1829, but taught herself to read using cut out card letters and achieved much more through her sense of

touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

. She devised a tactile version of music notation, which she used to read compositions and correspond with friends. Diderot wrote about her achievements in his "Addition to the Letter on the Blind". He noted that she had learned some algebra, geometry, geography and astronomy. She wrote by pricking a pin on a stretched out piece of paper and read books which were printed especially for her. She also sewed and played card games. He took inspiration from her skills and believed that blind people should be educated based on their existing skillset, rather than their lack of sight.

Legacy

Valentin Haüy Valentin Haüy (pronounced ; 13 November 1745 – 19 March 1822) was the founder, in 1785, of the first school for the blind, the Institute for Blind Youth in Paris (now Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, or the ''National Institute for th ...

started teaching blind students just two years after Diderot’s “Addition to the Letter on the Blind” was published.Google Books website
/ref> It is believed that he was inspired by De Salignac and another blind musician,

Maria Theresia von Paradis Maria Theresia von Paradis (May 15, 1759 – February 1, 1824) was an Austrian musician and composer who lost her sight at an early age, and for whom her close friend Mozart may have written his Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major. She was al ...

References

1741 births 1763 deaths French blind people People from Charente-Maritime Denis Diderot {{disability-stub