Early Life
Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. She grew up in Great Britain, where she had a comfortable life with her wealthy parents. She studied several languages, history, and mathematics with her father at home.
Nightingale began studying nursing in 1850. At that time nursing was not a respected profession. Nevertheless, Nightingale felt called to be a nurse.
Career
In 1854 the Crimean War broke out between the Russians and the Turks, the French, and the British. Nightingale traveled to Turkey to care for the sick and wounded British soldiers. She found horrid conditions in the military hospital in Turkey. Medical supplies were low. The hospital was dirty and filled with rats and fleas.
Nightingale took control and was soon running the hospital. Her nursing duties often kept her up all night. The soldiers named her the Lady with the Lamp. After the war the British people thought of Nightingale as a heroine.
In 1857 Nightingale became sickly. She spent most of the rest of her life at home, but she continued to work. In 1860 she formed the Nightingale School for Nurses. It was the first school in the world that trained women to be professional nurses. Nightingale died in London on August 13, 1910.