Pierre-François-Victor Foucault (1797–1871) was the inventor in 1843 of the first printing machine for

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

, the

decapoint Decapoint, or ''raphigraphy'', was a tactile form of the Latin script invented by Louis Braille as a system that could be used by both the blind and sighted. It was published in 1839. Letters retained their linear form, and so were legible witho ...

Life

A pupil of the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, Foucault married Thérèse-Adèle Husson, a blind author, in 1826. This marriage gave birth to two daughters. After his wife's death in 1831, following a fire, he married a seamstress (non blind) in 1832, Adélaïde Louise Juteau. This allowed him to become a resident of the Quinze-Vingts (marriages between blind people were prohibited), which gave him the financial possibility to collaborate with

Louis Braille Louis Braille (; ; 4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) was a French educator and the inventor of a reading and writing system, named braille after him, intended for use by visually impaired people. His system is used worldwide and remains virtu ...

The raphigraphe

His invention was awarded a platinum medal by the Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, then he showed it at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

(1851) in London.

References

External links

Louis Invents Decapoint
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foucault, Pierre-François-Victor 1797 births 1871 deaths 19th-century French inventors Braille technology