Florence Nightingale, byname Lady with the Lamp, (born May 12, 1820, Florence [Italy] died August 13, 1910, London, England), British nurse, statistician, and social reformer who was the foundational philosopher of modern nursing. Nightingale was put in charge of nursing British and allied soldiers in Turkey during the Crimean War. She spent many hours in the wards, and her night rounds giving personal care to the wounded established her image as the “Lady with the Lamp.” Her efforts to formalize nursing education led her to establish the first scientifically based nursing school the Nightingale School of Nursing, at St. Thomas’ Hospital in