Johanna Berglind

Who was Johanna Berglind?

Johanna Jeanette Berglind, was a Swedish sign language teacher and principal. She founded one of the first schools for the deaf and mute in her country, Tysta Skolan in Stockholm.

Berglind was an orphan, adopted by a widow, and suffered form a weak health for many years after having broken her leg at the age of three. She was a teacher at the institute of Per Aron Borg, for the deaf and mute, in 1834–40. She saved her salary as a governess, servant and companion to found her own school, while taking to few students she could afford, but she did not succeed until Fredrika Bremer described her work in the press and asked for contributions. Her school was also given government support. She accepted students with an individual fee. She was the principal of the school 1860–82.