Guilly d'Herbemont
Guilly d'Herbemont (born June 25, 1888 in Brussels , † February 28, 1980 ) is considered to be the inventor of the white long cane for the blind and visually impaired , the handling of which is learned in the course of orientation and mobility training.
Guilly d'Herbemont was the daughter of a Belgian and a French. As a child she lived alternately in Brussels and Paris. Apparently she later worked in Paris as a musician and writer. She noticed that the blind on the streets of Paris were increasingly at risk from the motorization of traffic. The police in France at the time used white signal sticks to regulate traffic and stop cars. Guilly d'Herbemont had the idea of making the color white or white painted sticks available to visually impaired and blind road users in order to attract attention. On February 7, 1931, she presented them to the public in the presence of several French ministers - the day that is considered to be the birth of the White Long Cane.
In the years 1944–1945 the white long stick was further developed by Richard Edwin Hoover and a training program for handling the stick was tested. Annually on the international day of the white cane , October 15 , which was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1969, the helpful development of the French woman from Courcelles-sur-Viosne near Paris is pointed out.
Web links
- Anne Maniero: The origin of the white cane . Text edited / excerpt from "L'AUXILIAIRE DES AVEUGLES" - April 1990 ( Memento from January 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: Bulletin FIDACA No. 27, 1st half of 2013.
- Biography of Guilly d'Herbemont (English)
- History of the White Cane
- Memorandum on the introduction of the White Cane (French)
- Family Archives d'Herbemont (French)
- Photo: Guilly d'Herbemont
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Herbemont, Guilly d ' |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French inventor of the white cane |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 28, 1980 |