Jean Massieu - Wikipedia Jean Massieu Jean Massieu Teacher, School founder 1772 Semens, France July 21, 1846 Jean Massieu ( French : ( ʒɑ̃ masjø ) ; 1772 -- July 21, 1846 ) was a pioneering deaf educator. One of six deaf siblings, he was denied schooling until age thirteen when he met Abbé Sicard, who enrolled him in the Bordeaux School for Deaf Children. There he learned to read and write French, and later helped develop the first formalized French Sign Language. He taught at the famous school for the deaf in Paris where Laurent Clerc was one of his students. He began work after a scandal in Paris in Rodez and dedicated his life to educating deaf children. Later he founded a deaf school in Lille, France. Contents 1 Film 2 Quotes attributed to him 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Film Jean Massieu is portrayed in the fictional film Sign Gene, the superhero film about deaf mutants who have superpowers through the use of sign language, as the fourth great - grandfather of Kate Massieu ( played by Carola Insolera ) the girlfriend of the leading character Tom Clerc, descendant of Laurent Clerc. The film is written and produced by Emilio Insolera and was screened in cinemas in September 2017. Quotes attributed to him `` Let the Englishman have his coffee, and let me have my ham. '' -- Jean Massieu `` Gratitude is the memory of the heart '', which has become a proverb in the French language. See also Ferdinand Berthier Roch - Ambroise Auguste Bébian References Jump up ^ `` A Settembre nelle sale `` Sign Gene '' un film diretto e ideato da Emilio Insolera '' ( in Italian ). 21 July 2017. External links Massieu, Jean ; Laurent Clerc ; and Roch Ambroise Cucurron Sicard. 1815. A collection of the most remarkable definitions and answers of Massieu and Clerc, deaf and dumb, to the various questions put to them, at the public lectures of the Abbé Sicard, in London. London : Printed for Massieu and Clerc, by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street, Lincoln 's - Inn - Fields `` Jean Massieu, '' 1849 article written by Laurent Clerc Massieu, Jean ( Gallaudet University Library web page ) Date of the death of Jean Massieu, in Journal de Toulouse, 28 July 1846 : `` Jean Massieu, ancien professeur à l'Institut royal des sourds - muets de Paris, fondateur et directeur honoraire de l'institution des sourds - muets de Lille, est mort dans cette ville le 21 juillet, à l'àge de soixante - quinze ans. M. Massieu avait été l'élève, l'ami et le successeur de l'illustre abbé Sicard. '' VIAF : 27053249 LCCN : no2007091778 ISNI : 0000 0000 4862 7700 SUDOC : 077341031 BNF : cb102807661 ( data ) This French biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article relating to deafness and deaf people is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Massieu&oldid=815294100 '' Categories : Educators of the deaf French educators 1772 births 1846 deaths French people stubs Deafness stubs Hidden categories : CS1 Italian - language sources ( it ) Use mdy dates from April 2012 Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2017 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers All stub articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Italiano Polski Sicilianu Edit links This page was last edited on 14 December 2017, at 00 : 11. About Wikipedia

Question: who said gratitude is the memory of the heart
Answer: Jean Massieu