Georg Forchhammer | |
|---|---|
 Forchhammer in 1910 | |
| Born | Johannes Georg Forchhammer 22 May 1861 Aalborg, North Jutland County, Denmark |
| Died | 23 July 1938 (aged 77) Ordrup, Copenhagen County, Denmark |
| Alma mater | University of Copenhagen |
| Occupation | Deaf educator |
| Spouse |
Karen Marie Groth
(m. 1888; died 1920) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Forchhammer family |
Johannes Georg Forchhammer (22 May 1861 – 23 July 1938) was a Danish educator of the deaf, who was director of several deaf schools in Nyborg and Fredericia from 1891 to 1926. Born to a family of academics, in Aalborg, first training as a chemist, he taught physics for several years before starting work as a deaf educator. Forchhammer developed one of the first mouth–hand systems, an approach to manually coded languages, which he used to teach the Danish language to deaf students; his system was used through the twentieth century, and was later adapted to teach German. The system used a series of handshapes under the chin to show the sounds of speech as one spoke, giving the observer extra information about pronunciation.
Forchhammer conducted research in linguistics, and created a theory of vocal intensity. He was inventor of the phonoscope, a device whichwas used to demonstrate to deaf students whether the vowel they were making was correct using a gas flame and rotating drum. In 1903, he completed a doctorate degree on the subject of deaf communication, and was a supporter of various constructed languages, running a society for one, Ido, in Copenhagen. Forchhammer had one son, Eiler, who also became an educator of the deaf.