Emile Javal

Louis Emile Javal is a doctor and French politician born on May 5th 1839 in Paris and dead on January 20th 1907 in Paris, considered as the father of the Orthoptique.

Biography

Resulting from a family Jewish Alsatian originating in Seppois-le-Bas (Haut-Rhin), Emile Javal is elder children of Léopold Javal, appointed republican of Yonne under the Second Empire. He makes his studies with the college Bonaparte (today Lycée Condorcet) in Paris, in company of Sully Prudhomme and Sadi Carnot, which will remain his/her friends. Admitted with the School of the mines (promotion 1860 of the École des Mines of Paris, it was one of the founders and one of the first treasurers of the friendly Association of the pupils of the University of the Mines of Paris), it directs the Mines of Herault. But, in the hope to cure his younger sister, Sophie, attack of a strong strabism, it decides to undertake studies of medicine and to specialize in Ophtalmologie.

July 30th, 1867 with Francfort-sur-le-Main, he marries Maria-Anna Elissen (1847-1933), girl of the large banker Maurice Elissen. The couple will have five children: Alice (born in 1869, future Mrs. Lazare Weiller), Jeanne (born in 1871, future Mrs. Paul Louis Weiss, mother of the feminist Louise Weiss), Jean (1871-1915), Adolphe (1873-1944), Mathilde (born in 1876).

Emile Javal very becomes an ophthalmologist in sight. During the war of 1870, he is army surgeon of the army of Paris. He invents the Ophtalmomètre and the Iconoscope and directs until 1898 the laboratory of ophtalmoloscopy of the Sorbonne, which he creates in 1879. Its work on the Strabisme shows the possibility of rehabilitating certain patients with the assistances of exercises. This method enables him to cure his/her sister indeed. In 1885, he is elected with the Académie of medicine. He is knight then Officer of the Legion of Honor.

He holds a regular heading in the famous daily newspaper Time . Impassioned Typography and of Graphology and close friend of Zola, it is requested to appraise the writing of the documents called upon to overpower the captain Dreyfus at the time of the second lawsuit in 1899. It is also interested in physiology of the reading, that a departmental committee charges it with studying in 1884.

General adviser of the Yonne, it finds of 1885 to 1889 the mandate of deputy of Yonne (district of Sens) which had been that of his/her father. He is located on the left though not registered. Founder in 1880 of the League against depopulation, his mandate allows him to make vote the Loi Javal, which exonerates majority of the direct taxation the families of 7 children and more.

At the end of its life, returned blind man by a Glaucome, it is interested in the condition of the blind men, writing a book of practical advices, Between blind men , and making build an apparatus enabling him to write by automatically moving the sheet of paper at the end of each line, and a three-wheeled tandem which, controlled by an indicator, enables him to maintain its physical condition.

In Paris, Emile Javal lives a private mansion to the 5 Boulevard of the Turn-Maubourg. He also has the Château of the park of Béarn to Saint-Cloud.

He dies into 1907 of a cancer of the stomach.

Emile Javal and Esperanto

Its great passion was the Esperanto but, although it was acquired early with its cause, it practiced it only as from 1903 and attended the congresses of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Geneva. It lodged Zamenhof during its stay in Paris and they were since large friends. Immediately after the Congress of Boulogne it helped with the foundation of the central Office of Esperanto and until its death dealt with helping financially, not forgetting it in its will.

As soon as he had learned Esperanto, helped in that by his perfect knowledge of several foreign languages, he became in spite of his age and its infirmity one of the most skilful esperantists and most qualified because he was made read almost all the works, old and recent, on the history and progress of the language. It made use of its many relations to support progress towards the officialization of the language and intervened effectively to make obtain the Legion of honor in Zamenhof at the time of the Congress of Boulogne. Spirit very curious and friendly of progress, with the mounting of the improvements it wished reforms in Esperanto and more once it discussed it with Zamenhof which ends up seeing the danger of this attitude. The last years he lived hardly than for Esperanto. He was member of the linguistic Committee of 1905.

References

Internal bond

Family Javal

External bonds

http://www.annales.org/archives/x/javal.html
http://orthoptie.net/histoire/weiss.htm

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