Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard (; 20 September 1742 – 10 May 1822) was a French

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for low ...

and instructor of the

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 audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

. Born at

Le Fousseret Le Fousseret is a commune and a large village in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Geography The village lies in the middle of the commune, on the left bank of the Louge, which flows northeast through the middle of the commune ...

, in the ancient Province of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

(now the Department of

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

), and educated as a priest, Sicard was made principal of a school for the deaf at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

in 1786, and in 1789, on the death of the

Abbé de l'Épée ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for low ...

, succeeded him at a leading school for the deaf which Épée had founded in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He later met

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (December 10, 1787 – September 10, 1851) was an American educator. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first permanent institution for the education of the deaf in North America, and he bec ...

while traveling in England, and invited him to visit the school. Sicard's chief works were his ''Eléments de grammaire générale'' (1799), ''Cours d'instruction d'un sourd-muet de naissance'' (1800) and ''Traité des signes pour l'instruction des sourds-muets'' (1808). The Abbé Sicard managed to escape any serious harm in the political troubles of 1792, and became a member of the Institute in 1795, but the value of his educational work was hardly recognized till shortly before his death at

. In 1803 Sicard became a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

, occupying Seat 3 as the successor to the

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, comte de Lyonnais (22 May 1715 – 3 November 1794) was a French cardinal and diplomat. He was the sixth member elected to occupy Seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744. Bernis was one of the most promin ...

, who was a diplomat.

References

1742 births 1822 deaths People from Haute-Garonne 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 18th-century French Roman Catholic priests Educators of the deaf Members of the Académie Française Recipients of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 18th-century French educators 19th-century French educators French Sign Language {{France-bio-stub

See also

References