Suzanne Lavaud

Suzanne Lavaud (August 8, 1903 – January 14, 1996) was a French librarian. The first deaf person in France to obtain a Doctor of Letters, she is best known for her analysis of the writing of Marie Lenéru.

Lavaud was born in Puy-en-Velay, France, on August 8, 1903. Her mother was the principal of Lycée Victor Duruy and her father the principal of Lycée Charlemagne. Deaf from birth, Lavaud was taught by her parents how to follow conversations as a child by lipreading.

Lavaud was the first to significantly study the work of Marie Lenéru. Lenéru, a French writer and dramatist, became deaf and blind after contracting the measles as a child. Lavaud orally defended the thesis for her Doctor of Letters, "Marie Lenéru, sa vie, son journal, son theatre," at the Sorbonne on January 8, 1932. She was assisted by her mother, who repeated questions from the examiners when their movements or enunciation made lipreading a challenge.

Following graduation, Lavaud worked as a librarian at the Sorbonne. She also served as France's representative with the World Federation of the Deaf. Lavaud was the third deaf woman to become a member of Société des gens de lettres, after Yvonne Pitrois and Louise Asser.

She died in Nice on January 14, 1996.

Awards Montyon Prize (1932)

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