The Life and Works of Han Shin Gwang: a Midwife and Nurse of Korean Modern Times.
- Author:
Ggodme YI
1
Author Information
1. Department of Nursing, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Biography ; English Abstract ; Historical Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords:
Han Shin Gwang;
Midwfe;
Nurse;
Mother-Child Health;
Women's Movement;
1919 Samil Independence Movement
- MeSH:
Women's Rights/history;
Nurse Midwives/history;
Midwifery/*history;
Maternal-Child Health Centers/history;
Korea;
Humans;
History, 20th Century;
History of Nursing
- From:Korean Journal of Medical History
2006;15(1):107-119
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Han Shin Gwang, born in an early Christian family in Korea in 1902, could get western education different from the ordinary Korean girls in that period. She participated in the 1919 Samil Independence Movement in her teens, and got nursing and midwifery education in a missionary hospital. She got a midwife license and worked as a member in an early mother-and-child health center. She organized 'Korean Nurses' Association' in 1924 and focused on public health movement as the chairwoman. She actively participated in women's movement organizations, and Gwangjoo Student's Movement. She was known to be a representative of leading working women, and wrote articles on woman's right, the needs and works of nurses and midwives. From late Japanese colonial period, she opened her own clinic and devoted herself to midwifery. After the Korean Liberation in 1945, she began political movement and went in for a senate election. During the Korean War, she founded a shelter for mothers and children in help. After the War, she reopened a midwifery clinic and devoted to the works of Korean Midwives' Association. Han Shin Gwang's life and works belong to the first generation of Korean working women in modern times. She actively participated in women's movement, nurses' and midwives professional movement, Korea liberation movement, and mother-and-child health movement for 60 years. Her life is truly exemplary as one of the first generation of working women in modern Korea, distinguished of devotion and calling.
