List of deaf people
|
|
This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people.
| Contents |
Important historical figures in Deaf history and culture
The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status did not come along until in France in the latter half of the 18th century where Abbé_Charles-Michel_de_l'Epee founded the world's first public school for deaf students in Paris. The Abbe de l'Epee was the first to recognize the value of using the natural language of the deaf, manual sign language, as a means to raise deaf people to literacy and to provide an avenue to an independent lifestyle. Prior to Epee, the vast majority of common deaf people of all nations languished in frustration and isolation, especially those who did not have access to communities of signing deaf people common in the world's large cities. Only the deaf children of royal, aristocratic or wealth families were afforded any type of education.
The success of the Paris school spawned similar schools throughout Europe and the New World. Significant in American history, deaf Frenchman Laurent Clerc, both a student and teacher at the Paris school (1798-1816), and Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American, founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1816. Clerc, along with Paris school faculty members Jean Massieu and Ferdinand Berthier formed the core of the first deaf intellectuals in human history. They are followed by many people on this list who, like them, were born deaf, used French Sign Language or American Sign Language as their mother language, and were notable for their leadership and accomplishments.
- Melville Ballard, American teacher, first undergraduate to receive a degree from Gallaudet College.
- Ferdinand Berthier, French intellectual, first deaf person to receive the French Legion of Honor. Founder of world's first deaf organization.
- Eliza Boardman American, member of the first class of students in America's first school for the deaf; wife of Laurent Clerc.
- Edmund Booth, American publisher, teacher and adventurer.
- Julia Brace, American, first deaf-blind American to receive an education.
- John Brewster Jr., American, leading artist of the Federalist Period in America.
- Laura Bridgeman, American, first deafblind student of Dr. Samuel Howe.
- Thomas Lewis Brown, American, first deaf person to be elected to a state legislature. Co-founder of first national organization of the deaf.
- Laurent Clerc, French-American, co-founder of first school for the deaf in America. First deaf teacher of the deaf in America.
- Alice Cogswell, American student who inspired the founding of the first school for the deaf in the United States.
- Theophilus d'Estrella, American artist and first student at San Francisco's Institution for the Deaf.
- Sophia Fowler, American, wife of Gallaudet University founder Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.
- Edwin A. Hodgson, American, former president of the National Association of the Deaf.
- William Elsworth "Dummy" Hoy, American baseball player.
- Mabel Hubbard, American, daughter of Gardiner Green Hubbard and wife of Alexander Graham Bell
- Regina Olsen Hughes, American, distinguished employee at the Smithsonian Institution.
- Helen Keller, American deafblind writer and lecturer.
- Jean Massieu, French deaf intellectual and internationally renowned public figure. World's first deaf teacher of the deaf.
- Granville Redmond, American painter.
- Laura Searing, American journalist and poet.
- Douglas Tilden, American sculptor.
- Job Turner, American educator, first president of the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.
Notable Children of Deaf Adults (C.O.D.A)
- Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor raised by deaf parents, his upbringing allowed him to better communicate in silent film
- Louise Fletcher, American, Academy Award, Best Actress for One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest.
- Richard Griffiths, American actor.
Notable deaf people active in the Deaf community
- Jack Ashley, British member of the House of Lords, campaigner for the rights of deaf people
- Linda Bove, American actress on Sesame Street, founding member of the National Theater of the Deaf.
- Braam Jordaan, South African film maker.
- Emmanuelle Laborit, French actress.
- Gary Malkowski, Canadian politician
- Marlee Matlin, American, Best-Actress award for Children of A Lesser God.
- Emma Nicholson, British member of the House of Lords.
- Judith Scott, American outsider artist
- Elizabeth Quinn, British actress
- Heather Whitestone, American, first deaf person to win the title of Miss America.
Notable people with a hearing loss
- Guillaume Amontons, French inventor and physicist.
- Cliff Bastin, British Soccer player
- Luis Buńuel, Spanish surrealist filmmaker and poet.
- Vint Cerf, American "father of the internet."
- Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister.
- Gertrude Ederle, American competitive swimmer, first woman to swim the English Channel.
- Thomas Edison, American inventor.
- Francisco Goya, Spanish painter
- Oliver Heaviside, British engineer, mathematician and physicist.
- John Howard, Australian Prime Minister.
- Steve Jobs, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Apple Computer.
- George Martin, British music producer, produced the Beatles.
- Rush Limbaugh, American radio host and political commentator.
- Sir William McMahon Australian politician and former Prime Minister.
- Pierre de Ronsard, French poet.
- Eric Sykes, British comedy writer and actor.
- Judith Wright, Australian poet.
Musicians with a hearing loss
- Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer.
- Shawn Dale Barnett American rock drummer and band leader.
- Rudi Carrell, Dutch popular singer.
- Gabriel Fauré, French composer.
- Evelyn Glennie, Scottish virtuoso percussionist.
- Johnnie Ray, American popular singer.
- Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer.
- Brian Wilson American singer and musician with The Beach Boys.