PENDOLA, Tommaso. – A Scolopian, born in Genoa on 23 June 1800, died in Siena on 12 February 1882.
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 distinctly Christian philosophers, such as St Thomas and St Anselm, who were then almost entirely ignored; in 1860 he was also rector of the University. However, P. is best remembered for his work on behalf of the deaf and mute. Inspired by the work of Assarotti in Genoa, he resolved to found an institute for the deaf and mute of Tuscany, which was established in Siena in 1828, with official approval from the Grand Ducal government in 1844. He wrote a *Storia dell’arte d’istruire i sordomuti* (History of the Art of Instructing the Deaf and Mute) (Siena 1855), as well as many other publications on the same subject: *Metodica applicata alla istruzione ed educazione del sordomuto* (Method Applied to the Instruction and Education of the Deaf and Mute) (ibid. 1869) and *Corso di pedagogia speciale ad uso degli insegnanti dei sordomuti* (Course in Special Pedagogy for the Use of Teachers of the Deaf and Mute) (ibid. 1881), in which, abandoning the method of gestures that he had practiced for 40 years, he proclaimed the oral method the sole means of redeeming the deaf and mute and restoring them to society; he even founded a highly esteemed journal entitled *Dell’educazione dei sordomuti in Italia*, which began publication in 1872.