Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was a celebrated English nurse, writer, and statistician. A Christian Universalist, Nightingale believed that God had called her to be a nurse. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night. International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday.

“Florence loved learning. In those days, wealthy families like Florence’s did not send their girls to school. They were taught only music and art and were expected to marry rich gentlemen and have children.

But William Nightingale thought it was important for the girls to have an education. When Florence was twelve, he began teaching them history, philosophy, and five languages, including Latin and Greek.

....

Mr. Nightingale turned to the history lesson. ‘Open your book to the chapter on Egypt.’ This excited Florence. History was her favorite subject. The Egyptian rooms were her favorites when the family went to visit the British Museum.

‘Papa, I want to visit the Egyptian rooms again,’ she said. ‘And next time, could we see the Elgin Marbles?’

These ancient Greek sculptures came from the Parthenon, a temple on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Lord Elgin had obtained permission to display them at the British Museum.

‘Someday, Florence, I’ll take you to Greece and show you the Parthenon.’

After the history lesson was over, Mr. Nightingale told Florence to write an essay in French. He watched her work. She was always eager to learn. She understood things easily and seemed to have an unusual ability in mathematics.”

~Florence Nightingale (Young Reader's Christian Library Series), by Kristi Lorene (pp. 18-24).

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