Zsuzsanna Kossuth - the first volunteer nurse at Hungary and her activities in the War of Independence (1848-1849)

Zsuzsanna Kossuth (1817-1854), was a first volunteer nurse, who was also known as a freedom fighter in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. She was the sister of Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the revolution. In 1841, she married with Rudolf Meszlenyi. She and her husband were members of the National Protective Association. In April 1849, her brother appointed her to the first head nurse of all the military hospitals in Hungary. She was given the responsibility to organize the entire medical military system. She was the first to appeal to women to volunteer in hospitals, and organized the volunteering nurses. As a result of her work during the summer of 1849, 172 military hospitals started to work. After the defeat, she was arrested by the Austrians. Upon release, she was constantly harassed by the authorities. When she was arrested a second time in 1851, with the help of an American intervention, they managed to have her released on the condition that she would never return to Hungary. After that, she emigrated to the United States. She died in New York of a lung ailments on June 29, 1854.