The lawyer who read braille with his tongue
As a boy, in 1944, Evangelos Georgakakis was blinded and lost most use of his hands due to a German mine. He eventually learned to read braille using his tongue. "The teachers told me to stop, said I was wetting the books," he related. "So I practiced in bed, then in class pretended to be reading with my finger. It was wonderful memory training." By reading in this way, and listening to tape recordings, he completed law school. In 1966, he scored top in the Athens bar exams out of 360 candidates. Even so, no one wanted to hire a blind lawyer until his case was publicized by Time magazine in 1967, which led to a flurry of job offers. I haven't been able to find out what subsequently became of him. He might very well still be alive. His life story seems like it would be great material for a book or movie. More info: Time (Mar 3, 1967), Time (Mar 17, 1967) Sacramento Union - May 16, 1967
As a boy, in 1944, Evangelos Georgakakis was blinded and lost most use of his hands due to a German mine. He eventually learned to read braille using his tongue.
By reading in this way, and listening to tape recordings, he completed law school. In 1966, he scored top in the Athens bar exams out of 360 candidates.
Even so, no one wanted to hire a blind lawyer until his case was publicized by Time magazine in 1967, which led to a flurry of job offers.
I haven't been able to find out what subsequently became of him. He might very well still be alive. His life story seems like it would be great material for a book or movie.
More info: Time (Mar 3, 1967), Time (Mar 17, 1967)
"The teachers told me to stop, said I was wetting the books," he related. "So I practiced in bed, then in class pretended to be reading with my finger. It was wonderful memory training."
By reading in this way, and listening to tape recordings, he completed law school. In 1966, he scored top in the Athens bar exams out of 360 candidates.
Even so, no one wanted to hire a blind lawyer until his case was publicized by Time magazine in 1967, which led to a flurry of job offers.
I haven't been able to find out what subsequently became of him. He might very well still be alive. His life story seems like it would be great material for a book or movie.
More info: Time (Mar 3, 1967), Time (Mar 17, 1967)
Sacramento Union - May 16, 1967
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