Nursing Education and the International Philanthropic Sphere in Interwar Southeast Europe

Published In

Nursing History Review

Document Type

Citation

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

In the interwar period, nursing was one of the most mobile women’s occupations. Nursing education became part of the gendered transnational and regional circulation of people, ideas, practices, money, and power relations. These exchanges were facilitated by the international philanthropic sphere. This article seeks to highlight interrelated developments in nursing education in Southeast Europe (Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia) within a comparative regional framework. Drawing on multilingual primary sources, I argue that the promotion of professional nursing training was appealing to all Balkan states. However, the success of the international impact varied due to local constellations of factors, such as the influence of national branches of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, prior nursing practices and gender norms, royal endorsement, and government involvement. While the international philanthropy contributed to raising the status of nursing, its focus on women as nurses also contributed to maintaining the feminized (and low-paid) dimension of the profession.

Keywords: Eastern Europe, education, League of Red Cross Societies, nursing, Red Cross, Rockefeller Foundation, philanthropy, women

Rights

© Springer; American Association for the History of Nursing

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PSU Affiliates may request the article via Interlibrary Loan:
Nursing History Review (PSU Library catalog)

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Nursing History Review (WorldCat)

Publisher website:
Nursing History Review (Springer)

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41330

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