Smellie, Elizabeth Lawrie (1884–1968)

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Smellie, Elizabeth Lawrie (1884–1968)

Canadian nurse. Born Elizabeth Lawrie Smellie, Mar 22, 1884, in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada; died Mar 5, 1968, in Toronto; dau. of Janet Eleanor Lawrie Smellie and Dr. Thomas Stewart Traill Smellie; graduate of Johns Hopkins Training School for Nurses, 1909.

During WWI, served as a nursing sister with Canadian Army Medical Corps and as matron of Moore Barracks Hospital in England (1915–18); served as assistant matron-in-chief with Canadian Nursing Service (1918–20); was director's assistant at McGill School of Graduate Nursing (1921–24); served as chief superintendent of Victorian Order of Nurses (VON, 1924–47); was vice president of American Public Health Association (1939); during WWII, was matron-in-chief and lieutenant colonel, then appointed the 1st Canadian woman colonel in Royal Canadian Army (1944). Received Canadian Nurses Association's Mary Snively Memorial Medal (1938).