Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

Background

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. She was the daughter of William Nightingale, a wealthy landowner and was raised mostly in Derbshire, England. Her father was a Unitarian and a Whig who was involved in the anti-slavery movement. Her mother, Fanny Nightingale came from a staunch Unitarian family. She was a domineering woman and was concerned with finding her daughter a good husband. The family lived in a whirl of social activity and travelled extensively on the European continent. Like many generations of girls before her, Florence was to accept a vocational option. That was to marry a man of similar social standing, continued the bloodline, and pursued activities befitting a lady. Florence received a thorough classical education from her father, who taught his children Latin, Greek, German, Italian, French, English grammar, philosophy and history. Florence was an scholar and would be forever indebted to her father's guidance for the grasp of ideas and powers of concentration that were to distinguished her work later in life.

On February 7, 1837 --- while she was sitting quietly in her favourite spot, an unusual thing happened. She heard the voice of God, calling her future "service". But it was until 9 years later before she had an inkling of what the "service" was. Meanwhile, she was impatient with a life without meaningful purpose. Florence finally requested to study mathematics. However, Mathematics was not considered a suitable subject of study for a lady. After a long persuasion, her parents arranged for tutoring, thus, laying the groundwork for what would be Florence's second claim to fame-- her career as a brilliant statiscian.

By age 24, Florence rejected a marriage proposal and sensed her call to service would be through nursing. The news horrified her parents. For several years, Florence pleaded with her parents, with God, and suffered a near nervous breakdown, but never considered disobeying her parents' wish. As she waited for parental permission, she found a way to do something connected to her calling. She procured government reports on national health conditions from a friend in Parliament, Sidney Herbert, which she fastidiously studied in the predawn hours. She indexed and tabulated facts and figures and soon became a self-taught expert on hospitals and sanitation.

In 1851, after Florence turned down another suitor, her parents reluctantly permitted her to study nursing for 3 months at the unquestionably upright Institution of Protestant Deaconessesin Kaiserwerth, Germany. Two years later, she was appointed superintendant of the Institution for the care of Sick Gentlewomen in London. Her administration were very successful and so were the changes made to the Institution.