Edith Cavell

Passions

Vocation

Notable

Family

British nurse who organized a School of Nursing in Brussels in 1907, becoming a great heroine and martyr during WW I. She had lived a colorless life as a governess before age 30. In 1895 her dad took ill and she returned home to nurse him through his declining years and death. Inspired, she pursued a nursing career. During the Allied retreat of 1915, she was approached by an underground movement headed by Prince Reginald de Croy, who asked that she treat and shelter two wounded British soldiers. During the next nine months, 200 soldiers passed through the clinic in their flight to freedom via Holland, all under the noses of the German occupation forces, but at last the secret was broken and she was arrested. Edith refused to flee; when arrested she refused to deny her role, and five death sentences were pronounced on 10/11/1915. She wrote farewell letters at St. Gilles prison and said, "I know now that patriotism is not enough; I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." She was executed by firing squad 10/12/1915, shortly after 6:00 AM, Brussels, Belgium. Enlistments in Britain and U.S. rose spectacularly in the following weeks. Cavell's body was reinterred in Norwich Cathedral in 1919. A statue of her was erected near Trafalgar Square with the inscription, "Patriotism is not enough." Link to Wikipedia biography