Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, (born November 25, 1712, Versailles; died December 23, 1789, Paris) was a philanthropic educator of 18th century France who has become known as the "Father of the Deaf." Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview. Charles-Michel de l'Épée was born to a wealthy family in Versailles, the seat of political power in what was then the most powerful kingdom of Europe. He trained as a Catholic priest but was denied ordination, as a result of his refusal to denounce Jansenism, a popul ...

Including:

• Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview
• Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques
• Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy
• Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée
• Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia - Charles-Michel de l'Épée

Charles-Michel de l'Épée was born to a wealthy family in Versailles, the seat of political power in what was then the most powerful kingdom of Europe. He trained as a Catholic priest but was denied ordination, as a result of his refusal to denounce Jansenism, a popular religious reform movement of the time. He then studied law, but soon after joining the Bar was finally ordained as an Abbé - only to be denied a license to officiate. Epee turned his attention toward charitable services for the poor, and on one foray into the slums o ...

See also:

Charles-Michel de l'Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia II - Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview

Charles-Michel de l'Épée was born to a wealthy family in Versailles, the seat of political power in what was then the most powerful kingdom of Europe. He trained as a Catholic priest but was denied ordination, as a result of his refusal to denounce Jansenism, a popular religious reform movement of the time. He then studied law, but soon after joining the Bar was finally ordained as an Abbé - only to be denied a license to officiate. Épée turned his attention toward charitable services for the poor, and on one foray into the slums ...

See also:

Charles-Michel de l'Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia II - Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview

What distinguished Épée from educators of the deaf before him, and ensured his place in history, is that he allowed his methods and classrooms to be available to the public and other educators. As a result of his openness as much as his successes, his methods would become so influential that their mark is still apparent in deaf education today. Épée also established teacher-training programs for foreigners who would take his methods back to their countries, and who established numerous deaf schools around the world. Laurent Clerc, a deaf ...

See also:

Charles-Michel de l'Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia II - Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy

What distinguished Épée from educators of the deaf before him, and ensured his place in history, is that he allowed his methods and classrooms to be available to the public and other educators. As a result of his openness, his methods would become so influential that their mark is still apparent in deaf education today. Épée also established teacher-training programs for foreigners who would take his methods back to their countries, and who established numerous deaf schools around the world. Laurent Clerc, a deaf pupil of the Paris schoo ...

See also:

Charles-Michel de l'Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia II - Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy

His educational method emphasised using gestures or hand-signs, based on the principle that "the education of deaf mutes must teach them through the eye what other people acquire through the ear". He recognised that there was already a signing deaf community in Paris, but saw their language (now known as Old French Sign Language) as primitive. Although he advised his (hearing) teachers to learn the signs ("lexicon") for use in instructing their deaf students, he didn't use their language in the classroom. Instead he developed an idiosyncrati ...

See also:

Charles-Michel de l'Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Overview, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Educational legacy, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Myths about Épée, Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Published works

Read more here: » Charles-Michel de l'Épée: Encyclopedia II - Charles-Michel de l'Épée - The Instructional Method of Signs signes méthodiques