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Louis Braille

Louis Braille

Louis Braille was born in the Coupvray, France on January 4, 1809. His mother

and father were Monique and Simon René Braille. Louis was the youngest of four other

children. Their names were Louis-Simon, Catherine-Josephine, and Marie-Celine.

Louis' father, Simon René, was a saddler. He made saddles and harnesses for

horses. His father had also been a saddler. Louis family led a simple, ordinary life. They

owned their farmhouse and seven and a half acres of land. Louis dad's workshop was

also on this land. The Braille's didn't have that much money, but there was always

plenty of food on the table. The family lived on a road called Chemin des Buttes. It

would later be renamed to Rue Louis Braille.

Louis would often visit his dad in the workshop. To Louis the shop was an

exiting adventure every time he would walk in there. The workshop smelt of leather, and

bridles, reins, and straps hung everywhere. In the middle of the workshop stood a bench

with many sharp tool. Not a very safe place for a three year old.

The tragedy is not known in perfect detail. Nor is the exact date known. But it

happened sometime in the year 1812. The investigating three-year-old boy climbed onto

the workbench in the workshop when his father was not looking. Louis reached for an

awl or knife. Soon after, people nearby heard yelling coming from the workshop. Louis

was crying, and blood gushed down his face. His hands had slipped off the sharp tool,

and the awl had cut into his eye. Louis mom and dad did every thing they could for the

helpless child. They cleaned the bleeding eye and covered it up with bandages. When

the bleeding stopped, they took Louis to the doctor. In those days doctors didn't know

a lot about helping infections. Powerless the doctor and the Braille family looked on as

Louis' infection spread to the other eye. Every thing became blurry for...