Name: Louis Laurent Marie Clerc

Birth: December 26, 1785 in La Balme-les-Grottes, Isere.

Death: July 18, 1869 in Hartford, Connecticut.

Mother: Marie-Elizabeth Candy

Father: Joseph-Francois Clerc

Clerc was the 3rd of 5 children.

When Laurent  was a year old, he fell from a chair into a fire resulting in a severe burn that left a permanent scar on his right cheek.

Clerc's family thought his deafness and inability to smell were caused by the accident, but Clerc later said he wasn't. sure about that and might've been born deaf and without the sense of smell.

Clerc's facial scar was a basis for his name sign, performed with the manual alphabet for "U", stroked twice downward on right cheek. His name sign became the best personal identifier in the American Deaf History.

Clerc did not attend school in his early years, but finally, at the age of 12, was enrolled in the National des Jeune Sourds-Muets in Paris. This was the first public school for the deaf in the world.

Clerc struggled with pronouncing certain syllables which infuriated an assistant teacher so much that one time he gave Clerc a violent blow under his chin. This made Clerc accidently bite his tongue so badly that he swore to never again learn to speak.

Clerc's experience with the assistant teacher helped form his belief that signing is the best method of communication for deaf students to learn.

In 1815, Clerc traveled to England to give a lecture and met Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

In 1816, Gallaudet invited Clerc to travel with him to the United States. During this trip Clerc learned English from Gallaudet and Gallaudet learned Sign Language from Clerc.

Once in America, Gallaudet and Clerc established the first permanent school for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. This school is now known as the American School for the Deaf.

In January 1818, Clerc went to Washington D.C. and was introduced to President Monroe by the French Ambassador, Mr. Hyde de Neuville. The president applauded Clerc for his work and attended one of Sicard's demonstrations in London with Clerc.

May 28, 1818, through Gallaudet's reading of his speech, Clerc was the first deaf person to address the Connecticut Legislature.