Jean Massieu

Jean Massieu
Teacher, School founder
Born	1772 Semens, France
Died	July 21, 1846

Jean Massieu (1772 – July 21, 1846) was a pioneering deaf educator, having been born deaf, and having five other deaf siblings. At first, he was denied schooling, but Abbe Sicard found out and enrolled him in Bordeaux School for Deaf Children. There he learned to read and write French, and later helped Abbe Sicard develop the first French Sign Language. He taught at the famous school for the deaf in Paris where Laurent Clerc was one of his students. He began work after a scandal in Paris in Rodez and dedicated his life to educating deaf children. Later he founded a deaf school in Lille, France.