The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 prompted 29-year-old Geneviève Hennet de Goutel to join the French Red Cross. Before her entry into nursing, she maintained involvement with Le Sillon, a French organization. Her professional service ultimately spanned from administrative hospital management to international medical missions across Europe, concluding with her death in 1917.
Wartime Nursing and Romanian Service
Hennet de Goutel directed an auxiliary hospital between September and October 1916. She subsequently joined a medical mission sent to Bucharest. During this period, she drafted a training manual for nurses and instructed local staff. When the German army advanced on the city in December 1916, her unit retreated to Iași. There, she oversaw operations at an abandoned villa known as Greierul, which served as a makeshift field hospital.
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While working at the field hospital in Iași, Hennet de Goutel contracted typhus while attending to patients. Her illness lasted one month, during which Queen Marie of Romania visited her. She died in March 1917 at the age of 32. Her remains were eventually interred at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, her place of birth.
Posthumous Recognition and Publications
Hennet de Goutel received several honors for her medical service, including the Médaille d'honneur des épidémies, the Croix de guerre 1914–1918, and the Order of the Cross of Queen Marie. Shortly after her death, the Bulletin de la Croix-Rouge published portions of her wartime correspondence. In 2017, compiler Roxana Eminescu released a collection of her war diary and letters.
Fast facts
- Born: 1885, Paris
- Died: 1917, Iași
- Occupation: Nurse, writer
- Military service: French Red Cross
- Notable awards: Croix de guerre 1914–1918, Médaille d'honneur des épidémies
- Burial site: Montparnasse Cemetery
- Associated organization: Le Sillon
Questions readers ask
What medical training did she provide in Romania?
She trained Romanian nurses and authored a manual intended for future nursing practitioners.
How did she die?
She died in March 1917 after contracting typhus from patients at a makeshift field hospital in Iași.
Achievements
- Order of the Cross of Queen Marie
