Barbara Borsinger

Barbara Borsinger
Born 1892
Baden, Switzerland
Died 8 September 1972(1972-09-08) (aged 79–80)
Castle of Horben, Argau
Nationality Swiss
Religion Catholic

Barbara Borsinger (1892 - 1973) was a nurse from Baden, Argau active during the two world wars in welcoming children, refugees and injured civilians and victims of the war. She founded the Nursery of the Friends of Children's Charity which later became known as the Clinique des Grangettes. This is now a private hospital.

Biography

Early life

Barbara Borsinger was born in 1892 in Baden into a catholic family active in the hotel business. As a child, with her sister, Verena-Hildegarde she attended a boarding school in Riedenburg. She continued her education at the Sacred Heart on the Isle of Wight, in Great-Britain.[1] Between 1911 and 1914, she studied to become a nurse in Geneva, at the school of Bon-Secours, à Genève. When World War I was declared, she engaged herself on the French front to help the wounded. As chief nurse,[2] she remained in position until 1920 at the Dinard hospital.[1]

Career

In 1918, the pandemic flu spread in Europe. Geneva was not spared, and Barbara Borsinger was deeply affected by the fate of sick children and orphans. She was able to estimate the need for training and reception centres. Back in Geneva, she founded in Carouge, near Genève, the Nursery of the Friends of Children's Charity which was dedicated to welcoming children victims of the pandemic,[3] and training nurses to take care of them. These nurses gained the nickname of « petites bleues » (little blues) as a reference to the colour of their uniforms.

In 1920, the nursery and the nurse training school were transferred to Malagnou, then in Clos Belmont, and finally to the country side near Grange-Canal at the outskirts of Geneva.[4] The institution extended its services to adults, and Barbara Borsinger in 1933 started to build a modern private hospital.[5] Nicknamed "la Poup", [1] these institutions later became the Clinique des Grangettes, and it is still active in 2016.[5]

World War II

In 1943, during the 50th anniversary of the hospital, Barbara Borsinger estimated that 6000 babies who had been in her institution between 1918 and 1943 and they had been cared for by 1280 nurses and children workers trained by her.[2] During the World War II, as during the first world war, the nursery welcomed many refugees. A contemporary article recalls children seen sneaking through the frontier under barbed wire with a notice around their necks reading: "nursery of Grange Canal"![2]

Social Engagement

Barbara Borsinger directs the institution in collaboration with two female doctors, Viola von Riederer and Bianca Stiegler, as well as the pediatricians Albert Mégevand et Fred Bamatter.[6] She was acquainted with the writer Robert Musil.[7]

Retirement

At 66, Barbara Borsinger retired in 1968 for health issues, having smoked numerous Turmac cigarettes and ritually drinking her glass of porto after mass. She gave her institution to the sisters of Menzingen, which had directed the hospital since 1957. The sisters decided however to concentrate their work outside Europe and they sold the hospital[5] to a group of radiologists in 1978.

Barbara Borsinger died on August 9, 1972 in the castle of Horben, in Argau. Borsinger received for her work during World War I the Medal of French Gratitude and she was made a Lady of the Order of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium.[8]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Gros 2005, p. 219.
  2. 1 2 3 "Œuvre des amis de l'Enfance". Le Mouvement Féministe,. no 639, 15 mai 1943, p. 39-40.
  3. ↑ Rufenacht, Gilles (2014). "La clinique des Grangettes". Immoscope (in French). Les Trois-Chênes, no 122: 8.
  4. ↑ "Les religieuses ont quitté les Grangettes". Journal de Genève 30 décembre 1978. Geneva. December 30, 1978.
  5. 1 2 3 Clinics roots, Grangettes, Retrieved 26 September 2016
  6. ↑ Gros 2005, p. 220.
  7. ↑ Kraus, Karl (2005). Briefe an Sidonie Nadherny von Borutin, 1913-1936: Dokumente und Anmerkungen (in German). Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag. p. 541.
  8. ↑ Her obituary

Sources

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