(One biographer has suggested that the rejection of marriage to Milnes was not in fact an outright refusal.) Determined to pursue her true calling despite her parents' objections, Nightingale eventually enrolled as a nursing student in 1850 at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany. She explained her reason for turning him down, saying that while he stimulated her intellectually and romantically, her 'moral…active nature' called for something beyond a domestic life. In 1849, Nightingale refused a marriage proposal from a 'suitable' gentleman, Richard Monckton Milnes, who had pursued her for years. During the Victorian Era, where English women had almost no property rights, a young lady of Nightingale's social stature was expected to marry a man of means to ensure her class standing-not take up a job that was viewed by the upper social classes as lowly menial labor. When Nightingale approached her parents and told them about her ambitions to become a nurse, they were not pleased and forbade her to pursue appropriate training. Nightingale eventually came to the conclusion that nursing was her calling she believed the vocation to be her divine purpose. Nightingale was provided with a classical education, including studies in mathematics along with German, French and Italian.įrom a young age, Nightingale was active in philanthropy, ministering to the ill and poor people in the village neighboring her family’s estate. Nightingale's father was William Edward Nightingale (having changed his original surname, 'Shore'), a wealthy landowner who would be associated with two estates-one at Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, and the other at Embly, Hampshire. Strong-willed, she often butted heads with her mother, whom she viewed as overly controlling. Despite her mother's interests, Nightingale herself was reportedly awkward in social situations and preferred to avoid being the center of attention whenever possible. Her mother, Frances Nightingale, hailed from a family of merchants and took pride in socializing with people of prominent standing. The younger of two daughters, Nightingale was part of an affluent British clan that belonged to elite social circles. Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy, the city which inspired her name. A revered hero of her time, she died on August 13, 1910, in London. Thomas' Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform, and in 1860 she established St. During the Crimean War, she and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, greatly reducing the death count. Part of a wealthy family, Florence Nightingale defied the expectations of the time and pursued what she saw as her God-given calling of nursing. (1820-1910) Who Was Florence Nightingale?

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