Sophie Mannerheim

Baroness Sophie Mannerheim was a Finnish nurse who is remembered as a pioneer of modern nursing in Finland. Born in Helsinki on 21 December 1863 as the eldest daughter of Count Carl Robert Mannerheim, she first trained as a teacher and worked as a governess and bank employee before beginning nurse training at the Nightingale School at St Thomas' Hospital in London in 1899. Back in Finland she became head nurse of the Helsinki Surgical Hospital in 1904 and reformed nursing education from a one-year practical course into practical training followed by three years of further study. She led the Finnish Nurses' Association for 24 years from 1905, helped found the Northern Nurses' Federation in 1920, co-founded the Children's Castle hospital with Arvo Ylppö, and served as president of the International Council of Nurses from 1922. She received the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1925 and died on 9 January 1928.