Sophie Zahrtmann facts for kids
Mette Sophie Zahrtmann (1841–1925) was a Danish deaconess and nurse. A deaconess is a woman who dedicates her life to helping others, often through nursing and religious service. Zahrtmann became the leader, known as Sister Superior, of the Danish Deaconess Institute in Copenhagen in 1891. This happened after the death of its founder, Louise Conring. Mette Sophie Zahrtmann is remembered for making the deaconess network bigger in Denmark. She added more homes and care centers. She also improved the training for nurses by adding more theory to their courses.
Early Life and Choices
Mette Sophie Zahrtmann was born on July 23, 1841. Her birthplace was Vammen, a town north-west of Viborg. Her parents were Johan Henrich Zahrtmann and Marie Dorothea Poulsen. She was one of seven children. They grew up in the rectory (the priest's home) in Hatting, near Horsens. Her father was the local priest there. Like her cousin, the famous painter Kristian Zahrtmann, she loved art. She took classes in drawing and painting.
In 1855, her sister had an operation at Frederiks Hospital in Copenhagen. During this time, the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard died at the same hospital. This event made Zahrtmann interested in his ideas. She was also very impressed by Ilia Fibiger, who was Denmark's first professional nurse and worked at the hospital.
After her mother passed away in 1858, Zahrtmann thought about starting a career. However, her father asked her to stay home. He needed her to take care of her younger sisters. The rectory faced hard times during the Danish War of 1864. This caused Zahrtmann a lot of sadness, and she never fully recovered from it. Shortly before her father died in 1867, he gave her permission to become a deaconess. But first, she spent four years in Aarhus. There, she cared for two children who were blind.
A Career in Nursing and Leadership
In 1872, Zahrtmann began her training. She chose the Deaconess Institute in Strasbourg, not the one in Copenhagen. She felt that in Strasbourg, people would better understand Denmark's loss in the war. This was because Alsace, where Strasbourg is, had also been taken by Germany in 1870. While she was abroad, she also worked for a time in a large hospital in Neuchâtel. She also spent some time at the Deaconess Institute in Paris. But she felt most connected to the main house in Strasbourg. She officially became a deaconess there in 1877.
In 1879, she was sent to the Deaconess Institute in Copenhagen. There, she played a very important role. She trained new sisters in nursing and in Christian ethics (moral principles). One of her key new ideas was to add nursing theory to the courses. She also stressed the importance of a religious approach, using her father's teachings. She became very popular with her students. She also brought a more pleasant feeling to the institute.
When Louise Conring died in 1891, Zahrtmann became the Sister Superior. She worked to expand the deaconess network across Denmark. She opened more branches and care centers. She also kept in touch with people south of the Danish border in Schleswig-Holstein. She often invited Danish-speaking sisters to Denmark for free training. During her time as leader, the number of sisters grew from 185 to 300.
From 1903, she started to improve the nursing training courses in a planned way. She appointed Ingeborg Schrøder to lead the training. By 1913, the training courses were mostly set in stone. They lasted for two years, with six months just for theory.
When she retired in 1914, she moved to the deaconess home in Gentofte. She made sure not to interfere with her successor, Victoria Jensen. As a retired person, she wrote several articles about Louise Conring. She also wrote her own memories. Both were later published in Den danske Diakonissestiftelses Årbog (The Danish Deaconess Institute Yearbook).
Mette Sophie Zahrtmann died on May 4, 1925. She passed away in the Frederiksberg area of Copenhagen. She is buried in Solbjerg Park Cemetery.
See also
In Spanish: Sophie Zahrtmann para niños
