Communities of Sisters Of Mercy (common)

Categories / Medicine. Public Health/Sisters of Mercy
COMMUNITIES of Sisters Of Mercy, a charitable women’s organisation for training professional nurses to take care of sick and wounded men. They became an important part of the women’s emancipation movement and appeared in St. Petersburg under the patronage and with participation of members of the Imperial family. The first community in Russia and St. Petersburg was the community of Holy Trinity which was opened in March 1844 between the Second and Third Rozhdesvensky Streets (now Sovietsky Streets) for "taking care of patients and converting people falling into sin to the way of truth". It was founded by Therese, Princess of Oldenburg with the help of daughters of the Emperor Nicholas I, Maria and Alexandra. Women at the age of 20-40 were trained in the profession of sisters of mercy at the courses in the community and then they worked in hospitals and sick quarters and took care of sick men at their private apartments. The rite of initiation of sisters of mercy was carried out in the church of the community. Sisters were subordinated to doctors but had a right of patronage over assistant doctors and servants. In 1854, on the initiative of Pirogov with the assistance of the Grand Princess Elena Pavlovna, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Community of Sisters of Mercy was established to take care of the wounded. Over 100 sisters of mercy went to the Crimea in the course of the war of 1853-56. Communities of sisters of mercy distinguished themselves also in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the First World War of 1914-18. Many sisters were awarded medals for their achievements. In 1894, Communities of sisters of mercy were transferred to the patronage of the Russian Society of the Red Cross. In 1858 the Grand Princess Alexandra Petrovna founded Pokrovsky Community of Sisters of Mercy in the outskirts of the Vasilievsky Island, which community provided the medical help to the poor of the district. At the end of the 19th century communities of sisters of mercy were usually medical charitable organisation, which also provided instruction. In 1917 there were 9 communities of sisters of mercy in St. Petersburg, the main orders were the Community of St. George (1870), Alexandrovskaya Community (1879), the Community of St. Eugenia (1893) and the Elizavetinskaya Community (1896). After October 1917 the property of communities of sisters of mercy was nationalised and they were transformed into city hospitals and other medical organisations. In the 1990s, some of the communities received their historical names (Pokrovskaya, Georgievskaya, Elizavetinskaya).

References: Маркович Т. М. Российское общество Красного Креста и общины сестер милосердия. СПб., 1910; Романюк В. П. История сестринского дела в России. СПб., 1998; Постернак А. В. Очерки по истории общин сестер милосердия. М., 2001.

S. V. Boglachev. Alexandra Nikolaevna, Grand Princess
Alexandra Petrovna, Grand Princess
Elena Pavlovna, Grand Princess
Maria Nikolaevna, Grand Princess
Nicholas I, Emperor
Pirogov Nikolay Ivanovich
2nd Sovetskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
3d Sovetskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Маркович Т. М. Российское общество Красного Креста и общины сестер милосердия. СПб., 1910
Постернак А. В. Очерки по истории общин сестер милосердия. М., 2001
Романюк В. П. История сестринского дела в России. СПб., 1998 1844
1854