Quintus Pedius (deaf painter)

Quintus Pedius was a Roman painter and the first deaf person in recorded history known by name. [cite web
url=http://library.gallaudet.edu/deaf-faq-earliest-deaf.shtml
title=Earliest Known Deaf People (to 1700 AD)
publisher=Gallaudet University
accessdate=2007-11-04] He is the first recorded deaf painter and his education is the first recorded education of a deaf child. All what is known about him today is contained in a single passage of the "Natural History" by the Roman author Pliny the Elder. [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=IEoMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=%22q+pedius%22+painter&source=web&ots=wjk2fn_Isv&sig=Vs1Y-yTizhzXwcwwdkmGmbmotAc#PPA231,M1
title=The Natural History of Pliny
author=Pliny the Elder
others=John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley (translators)
publisher=H. G. Bohn
year=1857
quote=Q. Pedius ... had a grandson, who being dumb from his birth, the orator Messala, to whose family his grandmother belonged, recommended he should be brought up as a painter, a proposal which was also approved of by the late Emperor Augustus. He died, however, in his youth, after having made great progress in the art.]

Pedius was the son of Roman Senator and orator Quintus Pedius Publicola, while his mother was an unnamed Roman woman. Pedius' paternal grandfather was the consul Quintus Pedius and his paternal grandmother was Valeria, a relative (sister?) of Roman Senator and orator Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus. His paternal grandfather and Roman Emperor Augustus were maternal cousins.

Pedius was born deaf. On the advice of his paternal great uncle (?) Messalla Corvinus, and with permission from Augustus, Pedius was taught to paint. The boy turned out to be a talented painter, but died in young age.

ources

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZioseeZZMJ4C&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=quintus+pedius+deaf+painter&source=web&ots=yzDablbWR4&sig=1VCYdhaDfcui2TW4KaMZRJsnXNY#PPA9,M1 Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education]
* [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2497.html Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography]
* [http://www.signgenius.com/famous-deaf-people/historical-facts.shtml Historical Facts about Deaf People] - SignGenius.com

External links

* [http://www.mclink.it/mclink/sordi/pedius.htm fictitious Portrait of Quintus Pedius]