Hildegard Peplau

American nurse and the first published nursing theorist since Florence Nightingale. She created the middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations, which helped to revolutionize the scholarly work of nurses. As a primary contributor to mental health law reform, she led the way towards humane treatment of patients with behaviour and personality disorders.

Peplau was an advisor to the World Health Organization, and was a visiting professor at universities in Africa, Latin America, Belgium, and throughout the United States. A strong advocate for research in nursing, she served as a consultant to the U.S. Surgeon General, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Institute of Mental Health. She participated in many government policy-making groups. She served as president of the American Nurses Association from 1970 to 1972, as second vice president from 1972 to 1974, and as a visiting professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium in 1975 and 1976.

She died peacefully in her sleep on 17 March 1999, aged 89, at home in Sherman Oaks, California.