A SMALL, almost whimsical, statue of a pelican atop a small fountain, which has stood in Larnaca for more than a century, tells the story of a remarkable woman whose devotion to the sick will be commemorated in a special ceremony next week.
Sister Sophie Gambon was Cyprus’ version of Florence Nightingale and from 1871 until 1894 she nursed thousands of patients at the Nun’s Hospital in Larnaca. The pelican statue, erected after her death in 1895, is a poignant symbol of her selflessness. In the absence of food to offer their young, pelicans feed them with their own blood, putting their own lives at risk.
The memorial, now outside Saint Joseph’s Monastery, will be the site of a commemorative ceremony on February 15 when members of the nursing profession mark European Nursing Day.
Sophie Gambon was a Catholic nun who cared for more than 30 patients a day in the absence of a permanent doctor at the Nuns’ Hospital, after the death of the resident French doctor who had served Larnaca’s patients for 25 years from 1839 until 1864.
In his 1947 publication, The Social Activities of Larnaca Town, Neoclis Kyriazis reminds us of the illnesses that were rife in the nineteenth century, including typhoid, dysentry and malaria. In 1835 the Ottoman government together with the French consul worked to strengthen the lazaretto, or quarantine station, in Larnaca in an effort to combat disease. The French then established a hospital and school, sending the first four nuns over in 1844. In 1846 the foundations for Saint Joseph’s Monastery were laid with provisions for it to operate as a school and hospital.
From 1845 to 1864 the French Nuns’ Hospital offered free medical examinations and medicines from Doctor Foplant. After his death, the sisters with nursing knowledge continued the medical care, and the French Hospital operated in Larnaca until 1922. But of all the years and people who served there, it is Sister Sophie Gambon who stands out. Working with limited resources in difficult and poverty-stricken times, in many cases all she could offer her patients, who came from all religious denominations, was a little water and her own care.
And after her death in 1895, at a time when placing monuments was not a common practice, the leaders of Larnaca took the decision to acknowledge Sister Gambon’s invaluable contribution to the town.
Originally the monument was placed on a square in the centre of town, today known as Pallas Square. It was an ideal location given the adequate water supply from the Bekir Pasha aqueduct, allowing the monument’s fountain to operate 24 hours a day. Then mayor of the town, Nicolaos Rossos inaugurated the monument, the cost of which was met by the Roman Catholic mission, Larnaca town and the British colonial government.
When in 1930 the aqueduct system in Larnaca was dismantled to make room for the increasing number of cars in the town, the monument to Sister Gambon was moved for the first time, and then again in the 1960s. It was not until 2003 that the memorial was given the prominent place it holds today in front of the Saint Joseph’s Monastery.
