Alexander Mell

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Alexander Mell (born February 17, 1850 in Prague , † September 30, 1931 in Vienna ) was an Austrian administrative officer and teacher for blind people.

Life

Alexander Mell was the son of the Austro-Hungarian officer Alexander Mell and his wife Josefa von Rosenbaum. The historian Anton Mell was his brother.

Mell studied natural sciences at the University of Graz and was then from 1876 a teacher at the grammar school in Marburg an der Drau . As such, he married Marie Rocek. With her he had four children, including the writer Max Mell and the castle actress Mary Mell .

In 1886 Mell was called to Vienna and there entrusted him with the management of the kuk educational institution for the blind . Under his aegis , this institute has its own printing facility ( Braille ) and a lending library for the blind. In addition to improving teaching, Mell also ensured that specialist teachers were adequately trained.

In the years 1896 to 1898 Mell had the institute building in Vienna renovated and in 1910 he built a holiday home for the blind in Waldamt-Prolling , Lower Austria; probably the first of its kind. He also expanded the Museum for the Blind in Vienna, founded by Johann Wilhelm Klein , thereby bringing the history of education for the blind to the attention of society.

Through his international contacts, Mell brought the 23rd Congress of German Teachers for the Blind to Vienna. During the First World War , Mell was active in the welfare of the war blind and tried very hard to reintegrate them into working life. Austria thanked them with the honorary title of Hofrat .

From 1914 he was responsible as an inspector for all Austrian institutions for the blind . In 1919 he submitted for his retirement. The journals Der Blindenfreund and Eos had one of their most capable editors in him. Even after his retirement, Mell continued to publish there.

Alexander Mell died on September 30, 1931 in Vienna at the age of 81. In 1968 the Alexander-Mell-Gasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.

Fonts

  • Blind Readers (1901)
  • Encyclopedic Handbook of the Blind (1899)
  • History of the kuk blind education institute in Vienna (1904)
  • Advice on Raising Blind Children (1913)
  • About the contact of blind children with nature (1894)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mell, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian teacher for the blind
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1931
Place of death Vienna