Why Is Florence Nightingale So Popular

Many things do not pass the test of time, humans surely cannot live forever, but some of their accomplishments have become well known legacies for all. Like many Victorian women of the time, Florence Nightingale was a nineteenth century traveler, but unlike many of them, she was famously well known and talked about in the many circles of England and surrounding European countries. Of the nineteenth century women travelers, Nightingale is still very widely known and even celebrated today, mainly for her reform and founding of modern nursing. Why was Nightingale so popular throughout her time and now in the present? It is hard to come up with just one answer because the truth, I believe, is composed of many factors, her family’s beginning and aristocratic level, her travels around the world experiencing the many governments and political exposure, her lasting friendships and acquaintances made throughout her travels that would help her in later life, and, of course, improvements in technology, which made newspapers possible and more widely distributed.
One of Florence Nightingale’s first influences took place before she was even born, her family’s
Her sister, Frances Parthenope, had been born a year earlier in Naples, where she was also named after her place of birth Greek. William Edward and Frances, both being quite intellectual, couldn’t find a governess for Florence and Parthenope to satisfy William’s “intellectual requirements” or Frances’ “standard of elegance and breeding.” Instead, William taught them history, grammar, composition, and philosophy, along with the languages, Greek, Latin, French, and Italian. They hired a governess only to teach the pair music and art. With Florence having inherited her father’s intellectuality she became very close to him, while Parthenope rebelled and became close, instead, to