Joel Deutsch (; ,

Nikolsburg Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

– ,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was a

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

writer,

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

, and distinguished deaf educator.

Biography

Joel Deutsch was born in

. He was a close student of

rabbinical literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic w ...

and an energetic collector of Hebrew books. In 1844, he became a teacher at the ''Allgemeine österreichische israelitische Taubstummen-Institut'' in Nikolsburg, a school for

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 ...

children established that year by philanthropist Hirsch Kolisch at the suggestion of

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Dr. Franz Herrmann Czech. The school developed into one of the leading schools of its kind in Europe, and was one of the first schools for deaf children which started an intensive auditory education program, thanks to its close co-operation with

otologist Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal, pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing). Otology also studies vestibular sensory systems, related structures and functions, as well as their diseases, diagnosis and treat ...

Viktor Urbantschitsch. In a letter to Edward Walter, director of the Institute for the Deaf in Berlin, Deutsch asserted that the students who had undergone their training programme were of decided intelligence, contrary to contemporary thought about

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

s. In support of this contention, he sent an essay by one of his students, Bernhard Brill, and said that he doubted whether any non-disabled person "could match his lucid and incisive style." Deutsch became

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

when the school was transferred to Vienna in 1852. In 1859 he was decorated with the ''Goldene Verdienstkranz'' and in 1869 received the title ''Kaiserlicher Rath''. On 17 February 1870, Deutsch survived an

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

by a teacher named Isaac Bardach, who had been severely reprimanded by Deutsch for whipping several of the children unmercilessly. Deutsch retired from his position in 1888. His pupils became teachers in the schools for the deaf of New York City, London,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, and

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, and the leading Jewish schools for deaf children were influenced by his work.

Bibliography

* ', Vienna, 1863 * ''Wörtersammlung zur Gedächtnissübung für den Ersten Anschauungsunterricht Taubstummer Kinder'', Vienna, 1881 * ''Wörter- und Aufgabensammlung für den Ersten Unterricht Taubstummer Kinder'', Vienna, 1881 * ''Vorlege-Blätter zur Einleitung der Unentbehrlichsten Grammatischen Formen'', Teplitz, 1877

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsch, Joel 1813 births 1899 deaths 19th-century educational theorists Austrian educational theorists 19th-century Austrian Jews Book and manuscript collectors Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Czech Jews Educators of the deaf Jewish educators People from Mikulov Heads of schools in Austria