Pendola, Tommaso

PENDOLA, TOMMASO. - Piarist, b. in Genoa on 23 June 1800, d. in Siena on 12 Feb. 1882.

While still very young he was appointed professor of logic and metaphysics at the University of Siena, where he gave a new direction to philosophical studies, orienting them toward the more strictly Christian philosophers, such as St. Thomas and St. Anselm, who at that time were almost completely ignored; in 1860 he was also rector of the University. Father Pendola, however, has remained more celebrated for his activity on behalf of the deaf-mute. Spurred on by Assarotti's work in Genoa, he too thought of founding an institute for the deaf-mute of Tuscany, and this came about in Siena in 1828, with official approval from the grand-ducal government in 1844. He wrote a Storia dell'arte d'istruire i sordomuti (Siena 1855), as well as many other publications on the same subject: Metodica applicata alla istruzione ed educazione del sordomuto (ibid. 1869) and Corso di pedagogia speciale ad uso degli insegnanti dei sordomuti (ibid. 1881), in which, renouncing the method of gestures, which he had practiced for 40 years, he proclaims the oral method the only means of redeeming the deaf-mute and restoring him to society; he even founded a highly esteemed journal entitled Dell'educazione dei sordomuti in Italia, which began in 1872.

Leodegario Picanyol