Braille, Louis [key], 1809?–1852, French inventor of the Braille system of printing and writing for the blind. Having become blind from an accident at the age of 3, he was admitted at 10 to the Institution nationale des Jeunes Aveugles in Paris. Later he taught there. In order to make his instruction easier, he chose Charles Barbier's system of writing with points, evolving a much simpler one from that system. He was interested in music as well and for a time played the organ in a church in Paris. The Braille system consists of six raised points or dots used in 63 possible combinations. It is in use, in modified form, for printing, writing, and musical notation for the blind. See also blindness.
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