Haüy, Valentin |
| SCIENTIST (FRANCE) |
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BORN 13 Nov 1745, Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, Oisne - DIED 18 Mar 1822, Paris GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 60) |
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Valentin Haüy came from a family of weavers. He was educated by monks and learned ten different languages. He became 'interpreter to the king' for Louis XVI in 1783. In 1785 he founded the Institution des jeunes aveugles (Institute for Blind Youth) that was supported by Louis XVI and taken over by the state in 1791. He was also politically active and in 1792 he was a secretary of the National Constituent Assembly elections. He was arrested twice in 1795 but released soon afterwards. Under the French consulate he was considered to be a terrorist, but in 1802 he was granted a pension. In that year he started a priate school. In 1806 he went to St. Petersburg after a request by Alexander I of Russia to found a school. In 1817 he returned to Paris where he lived with his brother René Just Haüy. He died in 1822 in Paris. |
| Images |
 The grave of Valentin Haüy at Père Lachaise, Paris. Picture by Androom (01 Nov 2022) |
Sources • GraveYart (Haüy - Père-Lachaise) |
