Who was Florence Nightingale?
Birth and Early Life
On the 12th of May in the year 1820, Florence Nightingale was born into a wealthy family. She was born in Florence, Italy, which inspired her name. She was the youngest of two daughters. She and her family were part of the British elite that joined in social circles. While Florence was shy in social circles and tried to avoid them her mother, Frances enjoyed socializing with these circles. Florence considered her mother to be controlling.
Her mother, Frances came from a family of merchants whereas her dad, William Edward Nightingale was a wealthy landowner who would be linked with two estates one at Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, and the other at Embly, Hampshire.
Florence was provided with a classical education that included mathematics German, French, and Italian.
It was while she was taking care of the ill and poor people in the village on her family’s estate that she realized that nursing was her calling. Her parents forbade her to pursue her calling as a nurse because ladies of her status married men to keep their social standing and did not take a job that was beneath her. She did eventually enroll in the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses which was located in Kaiserswerth, Germany from 1850 to 1851.
