Isabel Zendal Gómez (born 1773) was a Spanish nurse from Galicia who took part in the Balmis Expedition (1803-1806, Real Expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna), which took smallpox vaccination to South America and Asia.[1][2]

She had previously been the supervisor or "rectoress" of an orphanage in A Coruña, and her role on the expedition was to take care of the group of 22, later 26, small orphan boys who carried the virus from which the vaccine was prepared.[2]

The three-year expedition aimed to vaccinate millions of people against smallpox, and had the support of king Charles IV of Spain whose daughter had died of the disease.

Name

Her name has been spelled in some 30 different ways including Isabel Sendales y Gómez, Isabel López Gandalia, Ysabel Gómez Sandalla and Isabel Cendala y Gómez. A street in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain was initially named Calle Isabel Lopez Gandalia in her honour. This name was changed in 2017 to Calle Isabel Zendal Gómez as a more accurate version of the name.[3]

Recognition

In 1950 the World Health Organization recognised her as the first nurse in history to take part in an international mission.[4]

Julia Alvarez's novel Saving the World (2006, Algonquin Books ISBN 9781565125100) draws on Zendal's experience on the expedition.[5][6]

In 2018 Spanish pharmaceutical group CZ Veterinaria renamed itself Zendal in honor to Isabel Zendal.[7]

The Region of Madrid in Spain has named the Hospital de Emergencias Enfermera Isabel Zendal after her, which was built in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Adéntrate en su Historia: Isabel Zendal". Asociación Isabel Zendal Gómez. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "La dama de la vacuna, Isabel Zendal (1773-?)". Mujeres en la historia. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. ^ Garcia, Rodri (11 September 2009). "La calle Isabel López Gandalia recoge una de las 30 versiones que hay de los apellidos de esta mujer". La Voz de Galicia. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. ^ "La rectora Isabel, al descubierto". La Opinion A Coruna. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  5. ^ "About the Book: Saving the World". Reading Group Guides. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  6. ^ Alvarez, Julia. "Books: Saving the World". Julia Alvarez. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  7. ^ "CZ se refuerza para la macroproducción mundial de vacunas bajo el sello Zendal". La Voz de Galicia. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. ^ "El hospital para pandemias se llamará Isabel Zendal, enfermera que combatió viruela" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
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