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This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people.

The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status was not common until the latter half of the 18th century, when Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée founded the world's first public school for deaf students in Paris. The Abbe de l'Epee was one of the first advocates for using sign language in deaf education, as a means to raise deaf people to literacy and to provide an avenue to an independent lifestyle. Prior to de l'Épée, only the deaf children of royal, aristocratic or wealthy families were afforded any type of education.

Épée originally favored using a fabricated sign system, similar to Signed Exact English, based on French grammar and sound. The local Deaf communities insisted on maintaining their own Paris sign language, and on his deathbed de l'Épée wrote his final work decrying all constructed systems and finally endorsing the use of the natural signed languages made by Deaf people.

The success of the Paris school spawned similar schools throughout Europe and the New World. Significant in American history, deaf Frenchman Laurent Clerc, both a student and teacher at the Paris school (1798-1816), and Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a hearing American, founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1816. Clerc, along with Paris school faculty members Jean Massieu and Ferdinand Berthier formed the core of a group of pioneering deaf intellectuals. They are joined by many people on this list who, like them, were born deaf, used a sign language as their mother language, and were notable for their leadership and accomplishments.

• Ferdinand Berthier, French intellectual, first deaf person to receive the French Legion of Honor. Founder of world's first deaf organization.
• Julia Brace (1807-1884), early American deaf-blind student at the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb.
• John Brewster Jr. (1766-1854), American, itinerant artist of the Federalist Period in America.
• Laura Bridgman, (1829-1889), American, first deaf-blind student of Dr. Samuel Howe at the Perkins School for the Blind.
• Laurent Clerc (1785-1869), French-American, co-founder of first school for the deaf in America. First deaf teacher of the deaf in America.
• Pierre Desloges (1742-??), French deaf writer and bookbinder. First known deaf person to publish a book.
• William Elsworth "Dummy" Hoy (1862-1961), American baseball player.
• Helen Keller, American deaf-blind writer, lecturer, and activist.
• Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America
• Granville Redmond, American painter.
• Douglas Tilden, American sculptor.

• Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor raised by deaf parents, his upbringing allowed him to better communicate in silent film.

• Heather Whitestone McCallum, became the first Deaf woman to win the title of Miss America.
• Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf woman to win an Academy Award for her role in Children of a Lesser God. She won for Best Supporting Actress.

• Guillaume Amontons, French inventor and physicist.
• Cliff Bastin, British footballer
• Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist filmmaker and poet.
• Gertrude Ederle, American competitive swimmer, first woman to swim the English Channel.
• Thomas Edison, American inventor.
• Walter Geikie, Scottish painter.
• Francisco Goya, Spanish painter
• Oliver Heaviside, British engineer, mathematician and physicist.
• Georgia Horsley, Miss England 2007. Also a contestant in Miss World 2007.
• Harold MacGrath, American author.
• Sir William McMahon Australian politician and former Prime Minister.
• Pierre de Ronsard, French poet.
• Miha Zupan, Slovenian basketball player. First deaf/hearing-impaired person ever to play in the Euroleague.

• Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer.
• Rudi Carrell, Dutch popular singer.
• Gabriel Fauré, French composer.
• Johnnie Ray, American popular singer.
• Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer.
• Pete Townshend, British lead guitarist and songwriter with The Who.
• Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist.
• Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese popular singer and songwriter.