Hauy, Valentin

Haüy, Valentin 

Born Nov. 13, 1745, in St. Just (Oise); died Mar. 18, 1822, in Paris. French educator; one of the founders of the teaching of the blind.

Haüy developed a system for teaching the blind reading, writing, arithmetic, and music, and in 1784, with his own funds, he founded in Paris the first school for the blind. From 1806 to 1817 he lived in St. Petersburg, where in 1807 the first institute for the blind (an educational establishment of the boarding-school type) was opened in Russia under his direction. Haüy was the first to bring socially useful work within reach of the blind. His teaching methods became widespread in many countries. His main works are An Essay on the Education of the Blind (1780) and The Origin, Development, and Present State of Instruction of the Blind (1788).

REFERENCE

Skrebitskii, A. Sozdatel’ metodov obucheniia slepykh Valentin Gaiui v Peterburge. St. Petersburg, 1886.