Google honors Ferdinand Berthier with Doodle

On Saturday, September 30th, Google honored a Deaf French educator named Ferdinand Berthier, who was born 220 years ago on that day.

An article by Google explained that Berthier attended the National Institute for the Deaf in Paris when he was eight years old. He had the legendary Laurent Clerc as one of his teachers and was inspired to become a teacher himself, and he indeed did become a teacher at the same school.

The article said Berthier was a community leader, organizing the “first silent banquet for Deaf Frenchmen” that later included women, journalists and government officials in annual events. He also worked with the French government to establish a deaf-centered organization.

Berthier wrote books about the history of sign language and wrote biographies of other inspiring Deaf people. In 1849, he received France’s highest honor, the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

Google said “As a result of the hard work and advocacy of Berthier, Deaf and hard of hearing people are now able to enjoy more of their human rights than ever before…”

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A representative from Google said a Deaf French artist named Nikesco worked with them on this project and that the colors used were based on Arnaud Balard’s Sign Union flag colors that were just adopted by the World Federation of the Deaf’s General Assembly in July.

https://www.google.com/doodles/ferdinand-berthiers-220th-birthday