Iosif Florianovich Geilman

Iosif Florianovich Geilman (Russian language: Иосиф Флорианович Гейльман; 3 March 1923 — 13 June 2010) – is a Soviet/Russian and international expert on sign language, a sign language Language interpretationIosif Geilman shown during sign interpreting at 2:38. and the author of multiple publications used to this day. Also, he was the founder and first director of the first All-Russian Educational Center for the Deaf known as LRC (Leningrad Rehabilitation Center), where hearing-impaired from all across the USSR came to receive higher education or trade skill. Iosif Geilman was one of the key experts on the committee entrusted to develop Gestuno, an international sign language.
== Childhood and Teenage Years ==
Iosif Geilman was born into a Russian/Jewish/German family in post-revolutionary Russia on March 3rd, 1923. His ancestors emigrated to Russia from Germany and one of them was a Fire Chief in the city of St. Petersburg. Iosif’s parents, Florian and Elizaveta Geilman, were deaf. but commanded spoken language as well as sign language. Iosif’s father, Florian, graduated from the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design|Stieglitz Arts and Crafts Academy and then worked as a design engineer at the Elektrosila Plant. Elizaveta graduated from the Smolny_Institute_of_Noble_Maidens|Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens and then worked at the Karl_Bulla|Karl Bulla Photo Editing Shop. She was also an actress at the Drama Studio for the Deaf until the Studio was dismantled in 1937 and its director became a political prisoner. Iosif also had an older brother, Oleg, who moved to the city of Gelendzhik after getting married and then served in WWII and was highly awarded. The ambiance and atmosphere at Iosif’s home inspired his future professional path. His family held many a gathering for the deaf community of Saint Petersburg, and the young Iosif would interpret Radio broadcasting|radio broadcasts for the guests. At the age of 15, Iosif joined the All-Russian Society of the Deaf as a sign language interpreter, becoming the youngest such interpreter in Saint_Petersburg|Leningrad and two years later, he became a student at the Saint_Petersburg_State_University|Leningrad State University studying history
== The War Years ==
In June of 1941, right before the Great_Patriotic_War_(term)|Great Patriotic War broke out, Pavel Saveliev, the first Chairman of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, asked young Iosif to help as a guide and interpreter for a group of 300 deaf children, who were all set for a boat tour on the Volga River from Moscow to Astrakhan. However, World_War_II|WWII impeded the plans, and the group together with Iosif, had to stay in the city of Yaroslavl. Between 1941 and 1943, the young man had the responsibility of caring for these deaf kids. In 1944, after the siege was lifted, Iosif was able to come back to Leningrad, but – alas – he was not meant to be reunited with his family, for Florian and Elizaveta did not survive the severe days of starvation and privation during the Siege of Leningrad. To commemorate his parents, Iosif began working as a sign language interpreter for the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. It was also during these harsh years that Iosif was reunited with Marina, a childhood friend who offered him hospitality and soon became his wife. 
== Vocation and Professional Path ==
Iosif’s experience as an interpreter impelled him to ponder the need of further enriching and perfecting the Russian Sign Language, as his observations led him to believe that it had a certain degree of paucity and scarcity, as used by the Russian community of the deaf. Per Iosif’s initiative, a specialized school (#92) of secondary education with an in-person and distance learning systems was opened in the 1950s for the working young men and women of Leningrad with a hearing impairment. The role of the principal was taken on by Marina Anohina, after Iosif showed her his first publication, a primer book for the deaf. This event launched Iosif’s active and profound research into the particularities of the Russian Sign Language. Iosif outlined his findings in his prolific research publications. Especially prominent was his 1956 manual titled Signing and Fingerspelling: Practice Exercises and Texts, followed by The Fingerspelling Alphabet and Signs of the Deaf in 1957 and a four-volume dictionary in the 1970s titled Unique Communication Methods of the Deaf.
Teaching played a major role in Iosif’s career. He authored a manual called Training Interpreters: Study Plan and Course Programs, where the target audience was actually students learning sign language from scratch. Some 200 novice interpreters were trained through Iosif Geilman’s proprietary courses in 1961-1968, referred by local branches of the All-Russian Society for the Deaf. 
Mr. Geilman’s pursuits were not limited to the space within Soviet borders. Even during the years of the Iron Curtain, Iosif became a prominent name in the international sign language community and attended multiple congresses and symposiums abroad, both in the Eastern Block and in the West, in such countries as Italy and the United States – a fact signifying eminence in professional circles, for most Soviet citizens were not permitted to visit the West.
Iosif was the deputy chairman of the World Federation of the Deaf|World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and part of the expert committee evolving Gestuno, the original international sign language, which is now more commonly known as ISL (International Sign Language). Mr. Geilman was a member of the WFD committee on social rehabilitation of the deaf for many years to come.
He was friends and partners with William Castle of National Technical Institute for the Deaf, part of the Rochester Institute of Technology and the 1st Technical School for the deaf in the world. The two colleagues later met when Iosif retired and emigrated to the U.S. 
A turning point in the life of Iosif Geilman was the opening of the ASD LRC Technical School (deciphered as the All-Russian Society of the Deaf Leningrad Rehabilitation Center), an educational facility unique for the USSR in its concept. The center became a one-of-a-kind educational hub, where talented young men and women came to study from all over the USSR. The main mission was to bring the hearing and/or speech-impaired up to par in literacy and professional capacity and enable them to stand on their own two feet in social and professional circles. These young people received quality education as illustrators, accountants, organizers of cultural and educational events, sign language interpreters, radio-electronic equipment specialists, bookbinders, type-setters, printers), etc. The Leningrad Rehabilitation Center Polytechnical School was located at 20 Berezovaya Alleya in the city of Pavlovsk, a suburb of Leningrad. It was financed by funding from the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. Iosif Geilman became the Center’s director and remained in that capacity for the next twenty years until his retirement. Under his caring and thorough guidance the Center grew and expanded, branching out into new areas, such as cultural and educational activities, physical education and physical therapy, as well as a department of sign language interpreting. Lidia Sinitsina, a director of a Regional Rehabilitation Center, had this to say about Mr. Geilman’s contribution and character:
“Iosif Florianovich created this center and left it for the generations to come. He gravitated towards the center every day, always surrounded by younger generations.”
Among Iosif’s other social accomplishments was successfully insisting that all broadcasts on Russia’s central news channel be accompanied by sign language translation and that deaf drivers would be allowed to obtain a private driver’s license. 
== Family and Personal Life ==
Iosif was married to Marina Geilman in 1945, and their marriage lasted until her death in 2003. 
In 1991, Iosif Geilman emigrated to the United States with his children. He then lived between the two countries. 
Iosif and Marina had two children, Natasha and Kirill Geilman. Natasha is a PhD, linguist, translator/interpreter and owned a successful translation company in the States. Kirill was also fluent in sign language and headed a culture and recreation center in Leningrad before becoming an entrepreneur. 
Iosif has five grandchildren. The eldest, Ekaterina Rodneva, is a Russian as a Second Language teacher at the Saint Petersburg State University|St. Petersburg State University, a wife and mother. Vladimir Reznikov, who grew up in the U.S., is a translator of numerous books, poems and songs, a conference and legal interpreter and, like his grandfather, developed original training courses for translators and interpreters. Philipp Boltovsky is a professional musician: a clarinet player, and singer and performed with the Red Army Choir at the 2018 Olympics; he’s married and a father of two. Kseniya Geilman is a happy devoted mother in the United States. The youngest, Maria Boltovskaya, is graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory|St. Petersburg Conservatory as a violinist and now plays in the section of first violins for the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella|St. Petersburg Capella. 
In his time away from work, Iosif was an avid gardener, a talented poet and an accomplished chess player. After moving to the U.S., he enjoyed spending time with his grandkids and exporing the neighborhoods with his rottweiler, Gabriel.
A curious anecdote from the States: upon seeing a deaf American youth at a grocery store, Iosif’s grandson “challenged” him: “Grandpa, can you go talk to the guy?” Which Iosif did with enviable ease and dexterity, though American sign language differs significantly from its Russian counterpart.
First and foremost, he was a man of honor and integrity. As related by a former student: Once during the Soviet years, a student at the technical school was supposed to be disqualified for authoring a nudist painting – a fact unfit for a communist country. The committee of Communist Party Members voted to expel the young man. Iosif’s defiant and risky response followed: “My student stays. If he goes, I go.” And the young artist was not expelled.
One of Iosif’s quotes was: “As soon as people begin to understand one another better, life will much more pleasant and sane...”
== Memory ==
File:Iosif Geilman, memorial plaque.png|thumb|The memorial plaque dedicated to Iosif Florianovich Geilman On April 6th, 2017 at the Regional Center of the Hearing Impaired (formerly, the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center).
Iosif Florianovich Geilman passed away in June of 2010. He is buried at the Serafimovskoe_Cemetery|Serafimovskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg. On April 6th, 2017 a memorial plaque was dedicated to Iosif Geilman at the Regional Center of the Hearing Impaired (formerly, the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center).
== Publications ==
* Geilman I.F.Unique Communication Methods of the Deaf: Dactylology and Facial Expressions: A Manual: [in 5 parts.] / I.F. Geilman // Polytechnic school of the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center of VOG (All-Russian Society of the Deaf). — Leningrad: LRC VOG, 1975. — 166 p.
* Geilman I.F. Exercises and Texts as an Aid in Dactylology and Facial Expression Based Translation: Textbook [2-nd edition, expanded and revised.] / I.F. Geilman // Polytechnic school of the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center of VOG (All-Russian Society of the Deaf). — Leningrad: LRC VOG, 1975. — 114 p.
* Geilman I.F.The Fingerspelling Alphabet and Signs of the Deaf-Mute / I.F. Geilman. — Moscow: KOIZ (All-Russian Collaborative United Publishing House), 1957. — 596 p.
* Geilman I.F. Studying Gestuno: A Manual / I.F. Geilman // Polytechnic school of the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center of VOG (All-Russian Society of the Deaf). — Leningrad: LRC VOG, 1982. — 93 p.
* Educational and Behavioral Aspects of Working with Deaf Students in Their Professional Training,. A Collection of articles. / [edited by I.F. Geilman, L.G. Signitskaya]. — Leningrad, 1974. — 65 p.
* Geilman I.F. Sign Language – Your Friend: Dictionary, Excercises, Phrasebook / I.F. Geilman. — Saint Petersburg.: Leningrad Mixed Partnership (LIO) "Redaktor", 2002. — 176 p.
* Geilman I.F. Dactylology: A Textbook / I.F. Geilman. — Polytechnic school of the Leningrad Rehabilitation Center of VOG (All-Russian Society of the Deaf). — Leningrad: LRC VOG, 1981. — 86 p.
* Geilman I.F. Sign Language Dictionary: [in 2 volumes] / I.F. Geilman. — second edition, expanded and revised. — 2004. — 363 p.
 
Category:1923 births
Category:2010 deaths
Category:Russian educators