Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders, British physician and humanitarian, was born 22 June, 1918, in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England and died 14 July, 2005, London, England.
She founded St. Christopher’s Hospice in London in 1967 and was responsible for establishing the modern hospice movement worldwide. Saunders became a Red Cross war nurse in 1944 and served as a medical social worker before graduating from medical school in 1957. Research work in pharmacology inspired her idea to administer low, steady doses of pain relievers to terminally ill patients to keep them alert and comfortable. Believing that her patients were entitled to a meaningful life and to death with dignity, Saunders developed a holistic approach to their care that she hoped would also meet their emotional and spiritual needs.
Among the many honours Saunders received was the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, awarded to St. Christopher’s Hospice in 2001, and the Templeton Prize.[1]