The "father of DGS", Heiko Zienert, has passed away

9 December 2019

Photo: IDGS

Heiko Zienert was one of the pioneers (the so-called Three Musketeers) in the research of German Sign Language and was instrumental in the establishment of today's Institute for German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf (IDGS)! Heiko was a dedicated fighter who, in addition to his interest in his own language, was politically persuasive in his efforts to gain recognition for DGS in his own Deaf community and among hearing people. Specifically, Heiko's language examples in the so-called grammar group enlivened the linguistic discussion exceedingly! Countless students participated in Heiko's legendary DGS courses! Even today, the DGS courses still follow the same concept!

The Hamburg bilingual school experiment was finally launched, partially due to his professional and psychological backing: it was the start for the spread of bimodal-bilingual early intervention approaches in Germany.

Heiko Zienert passed away on December 5.

Thank you, Heiko, for your life's work!