Juan Pablo Bonet (Zaragoza (Aragon), circa 1573-1633) was a Spanish priest and pioneer of education for the deaf. He published the first book on deaf education in 1620 in Madrid.

Juan Pablo Bonet was secretary to Juan Fernández de Velasco, 5th Duke of Frías, Constable of Castile. While serving in the constable’s household, Bonet observed the methods of a tutor hired to teach Luis, the constable’s second son, who was deaf from birth. In this wealthy and titled family as well as in others related by marriage or birth were a number of deaf sons and daughters whose parents wanted them educated in addition to their hearing siblings. Some of the deaf sons were in line to inherit the family’s properties, and literacy was a requirement for legal recognition as an heir.

The recorded history of sign language began in 17th Century in Spain, in part with Bonet. In 1620, Juan Pablo Bonet published Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos ("Summary of the letters and the art of teaching speech to the mute") in Madrid. Considered the first modern treaty of phonetics of signed language and the use of signed language to teach speech to the deaf, this book depicted Bonet's form of a manual alphabet. His intent was to further the oral and manual education of deaf people in Spain.

Bonet's system of signs and manual alphabet has influenced many signed languages, such as Spanish Sign Language, French Sign Language, and American Sign Language.

Engravings of Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a hablar a los mudos (Bonet, 1620):

A.	B, C, D.	E, F, G.	H, I, L.
M, N.	O, P, Q.	R, S, T.	V, X, Y, Z.

[edit] External links

• "Juan Pablo Bonet". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02655a.htm. 
• Pablo Bonet, J. de (1620) Reduction de las letras y Arte para enseñar á ablar los Mudos, Biblioteca Digital Hispánica (BNE).

This article incorporates text from the entry Juan Pablo Bonet in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

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