Nightingale Florence 
(12.05.1820–13.08.1910)

English sister of mercy, philanthropist. 
Born in Florence, from which she derived her name, in the family of an English landowner W. Nightingale, who had estates in Derbyshire and Hampshire counties. 
Nightingale received a serious, versatile home education. From an early age, everyone noted the kindness of a girl and the desire to help others. She was very involved in the management of hospitals, almshouses, hospitals and other institutions where people needed help. This activity, which became the meaning of its very long life, led her from hospitals and hospitals of her native city and its environs around the world. She set herself a goal to study all stages of care and treatment of patients in order to best be able to provide them with the necessary assistance. Nightingale wrote in a report to the Royal Commission in 1857: “I visited all the hospitals in London, Dublin and Edinburgh, many village hospitals, some of the military and naval hospitals in England ……, the hospital in Berlin and many other German cities in Lyon, Rome , Alexandria, Constantinople, Brussels". 
In 1849 she first joined the fight against the epidemic in Germany in the Düsseldorf area, where she faced the disease in the most severe form. Upon returning to England, Nightingale agreed to take over the leadership of the disabled home in London, but in the fall of 1854 it was reported that the British soldiers participating in the Crimean company did not have the necessary medical care. Nightingale agreed to lead a group of 92 English sisters of mercy. With her assistants, she arrived in Constantinople the day after the fierce battle of Inkerman, which brought a large number of wounded. Nightingale organized the necessary medical care and care.Under her leadership several more hospitals were located. She consistently implemented the principles of sanitation and care for the wounded, with the result that in less than six months, mortality in hospitals decreased from 42 to 2.2%. 
Nightingale suffered several bouts of fever and in 1856 returned to England with frustrated health. The queen sent Nightingale a magnificent diamond cross and a handwritten letter of thanks. A wonderful bracelet with precious stones “in appreciation of her loyalty” was sent by the Turkish sultan. The queen also invited Miss Nightingale to pay her a visit, which took place in October 1856. 
In the same year, 1856  Nightingale was instructed to reorganize the army medical service. She has ensured that hospitals are equipped with ventilation and sewage systems;hospital staff must have received the necessary training; hospitals carried out a strict statistical processing of all information. A military medical school was organized, and explanatory work was carried out in the army about the importance of preventing diseases. 
As a thank-you for her activity in the Crimea, a £ 50,000 pledge was collected by popular subscription, but she demanded to spend it on organizing and supporting the world's first school of sisters of mercy at St. Thomas Hospital in London. Soon the graduates of this school began to create similar institutions at other hospitals. 
Due to her state of health, Nightingale could no longer take an active part in the practice of the sister of mercy, but she retained a keen interest in her. She devoted herself to the dissemination and promotion of knowledge in this area, which she had learned to perfection. It was published many papers on the state of health care in England. These are “Notes on Hospitals”, published in 1860, “Monitoring the sanitary situation in the army in India” (1863), “Life or death in India” (1871), and many others. In 1883  Nightingale was awarded the Royal Red Cross, and in 1907 - the Order of Merit. After the death of Nightingale in 1912, the League of the International Red Cross established a medal in her name, awarded to nurses who distinguished themselves in caring for the sick and wounded. 
Died in London. She was buried in the cemetery of St. Margaret's Church in East Well, Hampshire. 
Strait in the south of the archipelago Franz Josef Land between the islands of Georg, Meibel and Bruce. Opened and named in 1880 by the expedition of B. Lee-Smith.