Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard
Encyclopedia
Abbé
Abbé is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France....
and instructor of the deaf.
Born at Le Fousseret
Le Fousseret
Le Fousseret is a commune 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 northeastward through the middle of the commune.-Population:...
, Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne
Haute-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city is Toulouse.-History:Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.The...
, and educated as a priest, Sicard was made principal of a school for the deaf at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
in 1786, and in 1789, on the death of the Abbé de l'Épée
Charles-Michel de l'Épée
Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée was a philanthropic educator of 18th-century France who has become known as the "Father of the Deaf".-Overview:...
, succeeded him at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He met Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, LL.D., was a renowned American pioneer in the education of the Deaf. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first institution for the education of the Deaf in North America, and he became its first principal...
while traveling in England and invited Gallaudet to visit the famous school for the deaf in Paris
Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris
Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris is the current name of the famous school for the Deaf founded by Charles-Michel de l'Épée in 1760 in Paris, France....
.
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 Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In 1803 he became a member of the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, occupying Seat 3 as the successor to the François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis was a French cardinal and statesman. He was the sixth member elected to occupy seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744.- Biography :...
, who was a diplomat.