Didymus the Blind

Didymus of Alexandria lost his sight at the age of four, before he had even learned to read; yet by memory and dictation alone he became one of the most learned men of his age. For about half a century he presided over the catechetical school of Alexandria, admired by Athanasius and sought out by Jerome and Rufinus, who came to sit at his feet. A devoted follower of Origen, he shared some of Origen’s bolder speculations — and for that his memory was condemned, long after his death, along with the Origenists.