Pär Aron Borg (4 July 1776 – 22 April 1839) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

educator and a pioneer in the education for the blind and

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 ...

Biography

Borg was born in the parish of

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland Värmland () also known a ...

, Sweden. After studies at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

(1796–1798), he became a secretary in the Central Government Office () in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. After having seen a play where a deaf boy communicated by gestures, he was inspired to create a

manual alphabet Fingerspelling (or dactylology) is the representation of the letters of a writing system, and sometimes numeral systems, using only the hands. These manual alphabets (also known as finger alphabets or hand alphabets) have often been used in deaf e ...

. He began to educate deaf and blind students regularly in 1808. Following the example of'' l'Abbé de l'Épée'' founded by Charles-Michel de l'Épée in Paris, in 1809 he founded (Public Institute of the Blind and Deaf at Manilla;

Manillaskolan ('Manilla School'), before 1879 ('Public Institute for the Deaf and Blind at Manila'), is a Swedish state school for blind, deaf and hard of hearing children, founded by Pär Aron Borg in 1809. Until the autumn term 2013, the school was loca ...

). The institution received support from Queen

Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp ( sv, Hedvig Elisabet Charlotta; 22 March 1759 – 20 June 1818) was Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIII and II. She was also a famed diarist, memoirist and wit. She is k ...

(1759–1818). The school had deaf teachers, and the instruction was taught in sign language. Among his notable students was concert singer, composer and poet

Charlotta Seuerling Charlotta Antonia "Charlotte Antoinette" Seuerling (1782/1784 – 25 September 1828), was a blind Swedish concert singer, harpsichordist, composer and poet, known as "The Blind Song-Maiden". She was active in Sweden, Finland and Russia. Her las ...

(1782/1784–1828). He was the guardian and mentor of

Johanna Berglind Johanna "Jeanette" Apollonia Berglind (21 August 1816, in Stockholm – 14 September 1903, in Stockholm), was a Swedish sign language teacher and principal. In 1860, she founded one of the first schools for the deaf and mute in her country: '' T ...

(1816–1903), also an important figure in the history of the education of the deaf in Sweden. Borg made a trip to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1823–1828, where he founded a school for the deaf; thereby Portugal was given the same manual alphabet as Sweden. Pär Aron Borg died in 1839 and was succeeded as director of the institute by his son,

Ossian Edmund Borg Ossian Edmund Borg (6 August 1812 – 10 April 1892) was a Swedish teacher of the deaf and head of the Manillaskolan school for the deaf. He was the son of Pär Aron Borg, pioneer of deaf schooling in Sweden. Life and work Borg was born 6 Aug ...

(1812–1892).

References

Other sources

Svensk Läraretidning nr 29, 1901, om Borg

Om Borg på Manillas skoltidning

Biography

References

Other sources

Related reading