Samuel Heinicke (10 April 1727 – 30 April 1790), the originator in Germany of systematic education for the deaf, was born in , Germany. Entering the electoral bodyguard at Dresden, he subsequently supported himself by teaching. Around 1754, he took his first deaf pupil. His success in teaching this pupil was so great that he determined to devote himself entirely to this work. Heinicke promoted a chiefly oral/aural method of instruction, though he did use some form of a manual alphabet. He believed a spoken language to be indispensable to a proper education, and that it formed the basis for reasoning and intellectual thought. He died before his contributions to Deaf education became widespread, but (1766–1841) and (1805–1874) continued to espouse the oral method.