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Back to article: SAMUEL HEINICKE (1727-1790)

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HEINICKE, SAMUEL (1727-1790), the originator in Germany of systematic education for the deaf and dumb, was born on the loth of April 1727, at Nautschutz, Germany. Entering the electoral bodyguard at Dresden, he subsequently supported himself by teaching. About 1754 his first deaf and dumb pupil was brought him. His success in teaching this pupil was so great that he determined to devote himself entirely to this work. The outbreak of the Seven Years' War upset his plans for a time. Taken prisoner at Pirna, he was brought to Dresden, but soon made his escape. In 1768, when living in Hamburg, he success-fully taught a deaf and dumb boy to talk, following the methods prescribed by Amman in his book Surdus loquens, but improving on them. Recalled to his own country by the elector of Saxony, he opened in Leipzig, in 1778, the first deaf and dumb institution in Germany. This school he directed till his death, which took place on the 3oth of April 1790. He was the author of a variety of books on the instruction of the deaf and dumb.