The Nightingale of Korea: Elisabeth Johanna Shepping and the History of Nursing in Korea

Narrative

Elisabeth Johanna Shepping (1880-1934) was a German-born American nurse and missionary who served in Korea from 1912 until her death as part of the Southern Presbyterian mission. In 1918, she founded Neel Girls' School in Gwangju together with Lois Swinehart. She also served as a nurse at Chejung Hospital (today's Kwangju Christian Hospital). She wrote and translated the first nursing textbooks in Korean. In 1923, she founded the Chosun Nurses Association which later became the Korean Nurses Association. She was also a vocal advocate for the rights of patients with leprosy, having founded facilities for their treatment on Sorokdo Island. Shepping is known for having lived a modest life and for having actively assimilated into Korean society. She rescued many girls, even adopting 13 of them. She is buried in Yangnim-dong Missionary Cemetary. In 1937, a biography of her life was written by Lois Swinehart in the book Glorious Living: Informal Sketches of Seven Women Missionaries of the Presbyterian Church, U.S., and a Korean documentary was made of her life in 2017.