SICARD (Roch-Ambroise Cucurron, known as l'abbé). - Lot 269

Lot 269
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SICARD (Roch-Ambroise Cucurron, known as l'abbé). - Lot 269
SICARD (Roch-Ambroise Cucurron, known as l'abbé). Born in Le Fousseret, 1742 - died in Paris, 1822. French pedagogue, successor to Abbé de l'Épée at the head of the Institution des Sourds-Muets de Paris, of which he was director. Author of several fundamental works on the education of the deaf and dumb. Autograph letter signed "L'abbé Sicard", addressed to "Son Excellence, Monseigneur le ministre de l'Intérieur". Paris, March 18, 1817. 2 pages in-4 (1/2). Paper with his title. Important letter of solicitation on behalf of a deaf-mute former pupil, revealing the difficulties of professional integration for disabled people in the early 19th century and the social role of the Institution. Sicard describes "the unfortunate situation of a deaf-mute from birth", trained in Bordeaux and then sent to Paris in the hope of finding a livelihood. With only teaching deaf-mutes as a skill, the young man found himself unemployed and destitute. Despite several unsuccessful letters of recommendation, and advice to return to his home province, he had exhausted the meager means at his disposal for his journey. Faced with this critical situation, Sicard asked the Minister to intervene: either by authorizing the young man's temporary reception at the Parisian Institution, or by granting him the necessary funds to return to Bordeaux. He insists on the moral urgency of the situation, refusing to see this "unfortunate man" reduced to begging in the streets of Paris. The letter, of great rhetorical skill, ends with a personal appeal to the minister, emphasizing his and the young man's shared Bordeaux origins, in order to reinforce his benevolence. A moving and well-documented account of the condition of the deaf and dumb under the Restoration, and Sicard's unwavering commitment to their education and social protection.
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