Felix Movchanovsky (1853–1921) and his innovative approach to education of deaf children in the beginning of 20th century

Abstract

The article describes the history of a unique educational institution for deaf children established at the beginning of the 20th century in Aleksandrovsk (the Russian Empire at the time, today Zaporozhye, Ukraine) by the Polish nobleman Felix Movchanovsky. The author characterizes his figure, reveals the role and his contribution to the development of Aleksandrovsk, especially his activity for the sake of deaf children. In 1903 he was initiator and co-organizer of a unique educational institution – school-farm for deaf children. The institution was known all over the world because it was an autonomous town with its own urban infrastructure and the teaching of deaf language and crafts was carried out at a high level and on a large scale. At that time, no similar institution in the Russian Empire had such achievements.