JAMET, Pierre-François. — Priest, b. at Fresne (Orne, France) on 12 Sept. 1762, d. at Caen on 12 Jan. 1845. Ordained priest on 22 Sept. 1787, he was appointed confessor and spiritual director of the Sisters of the Bon Sauveur (a congregation founded by Mother Leroy at Caen in 1717). Having refused to accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 1789, Jamet suffered persecution and the sisters were dispersed. In 1805 tranquillity was restored; on 22 May all the sisters reassembled in their convent under Jamet’s spiritual guidance, and from that time their community experienced extraordinary growth.
The schools for the deaf-mute followed the system of the Abbé de l’Épée and Sicard; Jamet devised a new method and achieved brilliant results. He opposed the inhumane treatment used for the insane, replacing it with gentleness and appropriate care.
Jamet wrote several volumes on the instruction of the deaf-mute. On 14 Nov. 1822 he was appointed rector of the University of Caen. Yet Jamet’s principal work is the Bon Sauveur Institute, of which he is justly regarded as the second founder.