... was born in 1809 in Coupvray, a small town about 20 miles east of Paris. He was blinded in both eyes as a result of an early childhood accident. His system was overlooked during his lifetime, but was adopted in 1854 by France's Royal Institute for Blind Youth, where he had worked as a professor. It spread quickly through the French–speaking world, and eventually throughout the world (one of the last countries to adopt it being the USA in 1916).
Braille died in 1852, just two days after his 43rd birthday.
© Haydn Thompson 2021