Florence Nightingale

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FN 's fame began when she headed nurses in the Crimean war. After the war, she worked to reform health care and promoted sanitation at home and abroad. To this end she composed speeches, government reports, statistical analyses, articles, and pamphlets. She travelled extensively in her youth, producing many letters which were later collected and published. She also wrote theology, including the work which contains her feminist fragment Cassandra. Although FN was a versatile, political, and prolific writer (she produced over two hundred literary works during her career), she is remembered almost solely for her nursing work.
Brothers, Barbara, and Julia Gergits, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 166. Gale Research, 1996.
166: 268
  • BirthName: Florence Nightingale
  • Nicknames: Flo
    Cook, Edward. The Life of Florence Nightingale. Macmillan, 1913, 2 vols.
    4
    ; The Lady-in-Chief
    Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.
    ; The Lady of the Lamp
    Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.
    ; Commander-in-Chief
    Nightingale, Florence. Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale. Editors Vicinus, Martha and Bea Nergaard, Harvard University Press, 1990.
    182
    ; Wild Ass of the Wilderness
    Brothers, Barbara, and Julia Gergits, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 166. Gale Research, 1996.
    166: 271

Black and white, head-and-shoulders photograph of the young Florence Nightingale. She is wearing a simple black dress with lace collar and lace cap, and looking directly into the camera.

Milestones

12 May 1820

FN was born at Villa La Columbaia in Florence, Italy.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.

1828-1830

Between the ages eight and ten, FN composed her autobiography, La vie de Florence Rossignol, written in French.
Dossey, Barbara Montgomery. Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer. Springhouse Corporation, 2000.
8

By 19 August 1850

FN completed writing, in five days, her first pamphlet, The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine. It appeared anonymously the following year: her earliest published work.
Brothers, Barbara, and Julia Gergits, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 166. Gale Research, 1996.
166: 272

End of December 1859

FN published her foundational treatise Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not in its first, undated edition. It did not become available for sale until early next year.
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
1682 (1860): 87-8
Bishop, William John, and Sue Goldie. A Bio-Bibliography of Florence Nightingale. Dawsons for the International Council of Nurses, 1962.
15-17
Burmester, James et al. English Books. James Burmester Rare Books, 1985–2025, Numbered catalogues.
xlv

12 November 1901

FN 's letter Ladies Home, 90, Harley Street appeared in the Times.
Bishop, William John, and Sue Goldie. A Bio-Bibliography of Florence Nightingale. Dawsons for the International Council of Nurses, 1962.
99

13 August 1910

At the age of ninety, FN died in her sleep at her home in South Street, Park Lane, London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Nightingale, Florence. Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale. Editors Vicinus, Martha and Bea Nergaard, Harvard University Press, 1990.
442

Biography

Birth and Family

12 May 1820

FN was born at Villa La Columbaia in Florence, Italy.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.

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