Description
Zsuzsanna Kossuth (1817-1854) was a Hungarian freedom fighter in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. She was the sister of Lajos Kossuth. In 1841, she married Rudolf Meszlényi. She and her spouse were both members of the National Protective Association. In April 1849, her brother appointed her chief nurse of all the military hospitals in Hungary. She was given the responsibility to organize the entire medical military system in Hungary. She also sent an appeal for women to volunteer as medical nurses, and organized the volunteering nurses. After the defeat, she was arrested by the Austrians. She was released, but harassed by the authorities. When she was arrested a second time in 1851, the Americans intervened, and managed to have her released on the condition that she never returned to Hungary. After this, she emigrated to the US. She died in New York of a lung ailment on June 29, 1854.
Front: On their front side in the outer ring, the following design elements are featured: the lettering “MAGYARORSZÁG” in the upper legend, the value numerals 10,000 and 2000 forint in the lower legend, the year of mintage “2017” on the left, the mint mark “BP.” produced with special micro lettering that contains a security element on the right side. At the centre, the front side bears the representation of a scene at a 19th-century field hospital with reference to the hard work of Zsuzsanna Kossuth during the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence in 1848-1849, which led to the establishment of 72 field hospitals in three months, where the level of patient care was uniquely high in Europe. She recruited female volunteers to perform the tasks of patient care and to create tools aiding nursing. On the basis of her experience the need for the professional training of nurses arose, an idea that was not realised due to the defeated war of independence.
Back:The reverse side features the portrait of Zsuzsanna Kossuth as the central motif. Her brother, Lajos Kossuth appointed Zsuzsanna Kossuth “head nurse of all field hospitals” in 1849: she was the female nurse to establish and supervise the first field hospitals. All the lettering (“KOSSUTH ZSUZSANNA” and „THE FIRST HEAD NURSE IN HUNGARY”) featured on the reverse side refer to this fact. Here the years of birth and death of the head nurse who died at a young age are also shown: 1817-1854.
Keywords:medicine, healthcare, nurse,
Zsuzsanna Kossuth, silver, 2017
