Anna Hamilton (22 May 1864 – 19 October 1935) was a French medical doctor, superintendent of the Protestant Hospital in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

for 34 years, and a proponent of professionalization in nursing.

Early life

Anna-Emilie Hamilton was born in Fiesole, the daughter of Frenchwoman Zulma Pilatte and Frederic Hamilton, an Englishman of some wealth, who lived in France. She was educated at

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and was the first woman enrolled in the medical school at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. She earned her medical degree at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in 1901, with a thesis proposing reforms for nurses' training in France. Minnie Goodnow
"A Distinguished Sister"
''Trained Nurse and Hospital Review'' (March 1919): 157-158. The thesis was later published as a book.

Career

Hamilton attended the first International Congress of Nurses meeting in London in 1899. She became superintendent of the Protestant Hospital at Bordeaux (La Maison de santé protestante de Bordeaux) from 1901, and founder of the associated Florence Nightingale School for nurses. She believed it best for a nurse to train nurses, so she hired Englishwoman Catherine Ellston to head the nursing school. Before the twentieth century, many of the functions of nursing in French hospitals had been performed by religious sisters; Hamilton commented on the difference, saying "What most surprises the doctors (all more or less prejudiced against lady nurses) is the fact that they do for the patients so many things the nuns would object to do, and they do not discuss and meddle with the doctor's orders." In 1904 she and Julie Siegfried were the only two women accepted into the Protestant Association for the Practical Study of Social Issues (l'Association protestante pour l'étude pratique des questions sociales), an organization founded by Christian socialists Tommy Fallot and Charles Gide. In 1906 she founded ''La Garde-Malade hospitalière'', the first professional journal for nurses in French. She also founded the French National Council of Hospital Directors (le Conseil national français des directrices d’hôpitaux). During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the Protestant Hospital became a military hospital. She spent several months on a lecture tour in the United States in 1919, sponsored by the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

, raising funds for hospital expansion and improvements. In 1930, Hamilton was made a knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Personal life

Hamilton resigned her position as head of the Protestant Hospital in 1934. She died from cancer in 1935, aged 71 years. There are letters written by Hamilton in the Mary Adelaide Nutting Papers, Teachers College, Columbia University. The nursing school Hamilton founded remains in operation."The American Nurses Memorial of Bordeaux"
''American Nurse Today'' (April 2018): 46-47.

References

External links

"Histoire de la fondation"
official website of the Maison de santé protestante de Bordeaux-Bagatelle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Anna 1864 births 1935 deaths French women in World War I 20th-century French physicians People from Fiesole Physicians from Bordeaux