The Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée (French: [ʃaʁlmiʃɛl dəlepe]; 24 November 1712, Versailles - 23 December 1789, Paris) was a philanthropic educator of 18th-century France who has become known as the "Father of the Deaf". Even now, Épée is commonly described as the inventor of sign language or as having "taught the deaf to sign". In fact, he was taught to sign by the deaf. De l'Épée categorized and recorded French signs so they could be taught to others in order to be used in education, especially about the Christian faith. What distinguished Épée from educators of the deaf before him, and ensured his place in history, is that he allowed his methods and classrooms to be available to the public and other educators. As a result of his openness as much as his successes, his methods would become so influential that their mark is still apparent in deaf education today. Épée also established teacher-training programs for foreigners who would take his methods back to their countries and who established numerous deaf schools around the world. Laurent Clerc, a deaf pupil of the Paris school, went on to co-found the first school for the deaf in North America and brought with him the sign language that formed the basis of modern American Sign Language, including the signs of the ASL alphabet.
Some deaf schools in Germany and England that were contemporaries of the Abbé de l'Épée's Paris School used an oralist approach emphasising speech and lip reading, in contrast to his belief in manualism. Their methods were closely guarded secrets, and they saw Épée as a rival. The oralism vs. manualism debate still rages to this day. Oralism is sometimes called the German method, and manualism the French method in reference to those times. The Paris school still exists, though it now uses French Sign Language in class rather than Épée's methodical signs. Located in rue Saint-Jacques in Paris, it is one of four national deaf schools—the others being in Metz, Chambéry, and Bordeaux.
