Laurent Clerc

Laurent Clerc ( born December 26, 1785 Lyon; † July 18, 1869 in Washington, DC, USA ) is one of the most important historical figures in the history of the deaf.

Laurent Clerc could possibly hear at birth, but fell one year old in a fire pit. As a result he lost his hearing and sense of smell and maintained a burned right side of the face. The later sign sign for him - that is his "Name" with the doves - based on this feature. With 12 years Clerc came as a student in the National Institute for Deaf children of the Abbé de l' Epée in Paris, where he was asked after graduation, to stay on as an assistant teacher.

There he also taught the U.S. Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sign language. Gallaudet sought to establish a school for the deaf in the United States and held on to study at the Paris National Institute on sake. Clerc followed the request of Gallaudet to return to the U.S. with him and there to build a school. Laurent Clerc was after the establishment of the " Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons" (now the American School for the Deaf ) in Hartford its first teacher and remained until 1858. He was also for a short time director of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia. Although Clerc only one year would provide assistance, he remained until his death in 1869 in the United States.