Geilman, Joseph Florianovich

Childhood and Youth

Joseph Florianovich Geilman was born in Leningrad in 1923. Hearing in a family of deaf parents, he was fond of Russian sign language from childhood and carried this interest through his long life ^[1] . His parents had both oral and sign language ^[2] . They were educated in pre-revolutionary educational institutions of St. Petersburg . My father graduated from the Stieglitz Art and Industrial College , then worked as a designer at the Electrosila plant . Mother graduated from the Smolny Institute, after retouching pictures at the Karl Bulla photo studio. The atmosphere that reigned in the family of Joseph Florianovich Geilman influenced his life and professional path ^[1] . In the parental home, meetings were often held between deaf residents of Leningrad, during which he translated into sign language to all those present that was broadcast on the radio. At the age of 15, Joseph Florianovich Geilman became a member of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf , two years later he entered the Leningrad State University ^[1] .

War years

The first chairman of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf Pavel Alekseevich Savelyev in June 1941 invited 18-year-old Joseph Florianovich Geilman to work as a translator for 300 deaf children who were to go on an excursion trip along the Volga from Moscow to Astrakhan ^[3] . But the outbreak of World War II interrupted the journey, and the excursion group, along with Joseph Florianovich, stopped in Yaroslavl . In the period from 1941 to 1943, a young translator engaged in arranging the lives of children. In 1944, Joseph Florianovich Geilman managed to come to his native Leningrad, but he did not manage to catch his parents alive - they died of starvation during the blockade . In memory of them, he began working as a sign language translator in the system of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf ^[1] .

Professional path

The experience of translator obtained by Joseph Florianovich Geylman made me think about the need to develop and improve sign language, since his observations indicated the poverty of Russian sign language in most deaf people. So, in the mid 50-ies of the XX century in Leningrad, on his initiative, a part-time special secondary school for working youth for people with hearing and speech impairments No. 92 was opened, where Joseph Florianovich Geilman became the head of the educational department ^[4] . The post of director was taken by Marina Semenovna Anokhina, whom Joseph Florianovich Geilman showed his first work - “ABC Book” for the deaf. From that moment, his active research began, the result of which was a detailed study of the characteristics of the Russian sign language. The observations of Joseph Florianovich Geilman were presented in his numerous research works. Among them, a special place is occupied by the publication in 1956 of the methodological manual “A collection of exercises and texts for translation through manual alphabet and speech gestures of the deaf”, in 1957 the book “Manual alphabet and speech gestures of the deaf”, and in the 1970s. 4-volume dictionary "Specific means of communication of the deaf" ^[5] .

A large place in the professional path of Joseph Florianovich Geilman was occupied by pedagogical activity. He developed the "Curriculum and program of training courses for translators", the target audience of which were people who learn sign language from scratch. In the period from 1961 to 1968, about 200 participants attended the copyright courses of Joseph Florianovchia Geilman, who were sent by regional organizations of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf to work as translators .

An important event in the life of Joseph Florianovich Geilman was the opening in 1965 of a unique educational institution for the USSR - the VOG Polytechnic College (Leningrad Restoration Center of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf) ^[6] . This place has become a cultural and educational center where talented children from all over the Soviet Union studied. His main task was the rehabilitation of people with hearing and speech impairments in social and professional activities ^[4] . Young people at the Polytechnic received a good education and became broad-based graphic designers, accountants, organizers of cultural and educational work, sign language interpreters, lawyers, radio monitors, bookbinders ^[7] . The Polytechnic of the Leningrad Recovery Center is located in the building at ul. Berezovaya, 20 ( Pavlovsk ), built at the expense of the All-Russian Society of the Blind. Joseph Florianovich Geilman became the head of the new educational institution and supervised it over the next 20 years. It was under his watchful supervision that such additional departments were opened as cultural and educational activities, adaptive physical culture, and the sign language interpreters department. Director of the Interregional Rehabilitation Center Lidia Gerasimovna Sinitsina noted the contribution of Geilman:

“Joseph Florianovich created the Center and left it to his descendants. Every day he was drawn to the Center, he was always surrounded by young generations ” ^[8] .

The activities of Joseph Florianovich Geilman were not limited to domestic initiatives. He served as deputy chairman of the International Federation of the Deaf (IFG), and was also one of the members of the International Commission for the collection and editing of the international Gestuno dictionary.

Joseph Florianovich Geilman passed away in June 2010. June 14 at the morgue of the Pushkin City Hospital. N.A.Semashko a farewell took place with the teacher and translator. He was buried at the Serafimovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg ^[8] .

On April 6, 2017, a memorial plaque to Joseph Florianovich Geilman was opened at the Interregional Center for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Hearing Impairment. At the opening of the memorial plaque was attended by the Director of the ICR Babkov Vladimir Ivanovich, as well as teachers, students, members of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, the press ^[9] .

• Geilman I. F. Specific means of communication of the deaf: dactylology and facial expressions: textbook. allowance: [at 5 o’clock] / I.F. Geilman // Polytechnic Leningrad. will restore. VOG center. - L .: FOC VOG-, 1975 .-- 166 p.
• Geilman I.F. Collection of exercises and texts for the translation of dactylology and facial expressions: textbook. allowance [2nd ed. corrected and add.] / I.F. Geilman // Polytechnic Leningrad. will restore. VOG center. - L.: FOC VOG-, 1975 .-- 114 p.
• Geilman I.F. Manual alphabet and speech gestures of the deaf-mute / I.F. Geilman // M .: KOIZ. - 1957. - 596 p.
• Geylman I.F. allowance / I.F.Geylman // Polytechnic Leningrad. will restore. VOG center. - L .: FOC VOG-, 1982.- 93 p.
• Educational work with deaf students in the process of vocational training. Digest of articles. [Ed. I. F. Geilman, L. G. Sinitsina]. - L. - 1974. - 65 p.
• Geilman I.F. Your friend - gestures: a dictionary, exercises, phrasebook / I.F. Geilman // St. Petersburg. LIO "Editor" .- 2002.- 176 p.
• Geilman I.F.Dactylology: a training manual / I.F. Geilman.- VOG Leningrad Recovery Center. - L.: Leningrad recovery center of VOG, 1981. - 86 p.
• Geilman I. F. Dictionary of sign language: [in 2 volumes] / I. F. Geilman. - 2nd ed. reslave. and add. - 2004 .-- 363 p.