DE: Samuel Heinicke Hamburg
Address:
Seelemannpark
Hamburg, DE
Samuel Heinicke, (born April 10, 1727, Nautschütz, Saxony—died April 30, 1790, Leipzig), German advocate for and teacher of oralism (one of many early communication methods devised for use by hearing-impaired individuals) in the education of the deaf.
In 1778 Heinicke opened the first German public school for the education of the deaf. He insisted that lipreading was the best training method because it made his students speak and understand the language as it was used in society.
He bitterly opposed dependence on sign language and in 1780 published a book attacking the Abbé de l’Epée, whose Parisian school for the deaf taught communication through gestures.