Cyril Axelrod

Cyril Axelrod was born as Sheftil ben Avram Abba on 24 February 1942 in Johannesburg, South Africa.[1] He was born profoundly deaf to hearing parents who were Orthodox Jewish.[2] His grandfather was a rabbi, and his parents spoke Yiddish, with little knowledge of English.[3]

He attended St. Vincent's School for the Deaf in Johannesburg.[1]

As a young man he planned to become a rabbi, but after a difficult spiritual journey, converted to Catholicism in 1965.[1] From 1962 to 1965 he studied accounting and became a certified bookkeeper.[4] He decided to become a priest when he noticed fellow deaf people at Mass who could not understand what the priest was saying.[1] From 1965 to 1966 he traveled to the U.S., studying philosophy at Gallaudet College and Catholic University of America.[4] Axelrod trained for the priesthood at St. John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa, and was ordained in Johannesburg in November 1970.[1] At the time, he was the second born-deaf person to be initiated.[5]

His new parish would consist of the deaf people throughout South Africa, using eight indigenous sign languages.[1][2] He entered the Redemptorist order in 1975.[6] Axelrod was dismayed to find black deaf children in South Africa, some as old as 15, who were unable to read, write or sign as a result of discriminatory education policies.[7] Axelrod also encouraged the adoption of one universal sign language in South Africa to promote opportunities for black deaf South Africans.[8] Defying apartheid, he established multiple multiracial institutions, including a school for deaf children in Soweto, a hostel for deaf homeless people in Pretoria, and an employment center in Cape Town.[2]

He worked to have schools, community centers, and homes built for deaf people around the world.[3] In 1988 he traveled to Hong Kong and Macau, spending twelve years in Macau and setting up multiple services for deaf people there, including a center for deaf children and the Macau Deaf Association.[2] He would travel on missions in the U.S., Malta, and Australia, among other locations.[6]

Axelrod was diagnosed with Usher syndrome in 1979, which would mean he would gradually lose his sight.[1] He was completely blind by 2001, using finger signing to communicate.[1] He moved to London in 2000, where he studied braille and worked with the organization Deafblind UK as their Pastoral Support Development Coordinator.[3] He also qualified as a massage therapist.[9] In 2013 he made the news in South Africa when Comair staff would not let him board a flight alone because of his deafblindness, even though Axelrod had traveled independently for many decades;[10] Comair later offered to provide a guide to travel with Axelrod for free.[11]

Axelrod published an autobiography in 2005, And the Journey Begins, which describes his difficult childhood, his spiritual journey, and his pastoral ministry.[12] A book of his paintings was published in 2020, titled Light in silent darkness.[13]

Gallaudet College awarded Axelrod the Edward Minor Gallaudet Award in 1982 for his work in promoting "the well-being of deaf people of the world."[8] Axelrod received an honorary doctorate from Gallaudet University in 2001.[4]

In 2014, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to the development of deaf blind services in Hong Kong".[14] [13] Axelrod was the first deafblind person to have received that honor.[13]

• Axelrod, Cyril (2005). And the Journey Begins. UK: Douglas McLean. ISBN 0946252556.