2 Euro BU

Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France, near Paris, the son of a saddler. As a small child, he injured his eye with a tool in his father’s workshop. An infection eventually led to complete blindness. At the age of ten, he entered the royal school for the blind in Paris, one of the first institutions in Europe to provide blind children with a systematic education. He later worked there as a teacher and was also active as an organist.

The starting point for his writing system was a method developed by the French officer Charles Barbier. This so-called night writing was intended to enable soldiers to read messages without light. It used raised dots, but its large characters and numerous dot positions made it difficult to use in everyday life. Braille simplified the principle into a basic form consisting of six dots arranged in two columns. Different combinations can represent letters, punctuation marks, numbers and other symbols. He published the first description of his system in 1829; he later revised and expanded it. He also developed a braille system for music.

The symbols are read with the fingertips; initially, they were written using a slate and stylus. The system enabled blind people to read and write independently instead of relying exclusively on texts read aloud or produced with particular effort. During Braille’s lifetime, however, it spread only gradually. It was only afterwards that it became the international basis of braille. Adapted character sets and shorthand systems were developed for various languages and fields.

The anniversary year offered an opportunity for a commemorative coin because Braille’s system is not tied to a single nation. It is also used in Belgium’s various language communities and is closely associated with education, communication and the social participation of blind people. The occasion was taken up internationally in 2009; the Belgian issue thus formed part of a supranational commemoration of Braille and his writing system.