This work analyses the historical development of the Ângelo da Fonseca Nursing School from its foundation tol the present day (1881-2004). It was founded in 1881 by Costa Simões, administrator of the University of Coimbra Hospitals, to provided training for the hospitals’ nursing staff. However, this initiative did not last very long, and the School did not begin functioning again until 1919. In 1931, it was renamed in honour of Ângelo da Fonseca, director of the Hospitals. Then, in the 1950s, under the direction of João Porto, it underwent great development, which continued into the following decades, despite the lack of facilities (which only improved in 1978) and the convulsions of the revolutionary period (1974-1976).
Ana Isabel Coelho Pires da Silva é licenciada em História e especializada em Ciências Documentais, pela Universidade de Coimbra. É doutoranda em História Contemporânea, com o tema “Política social no concelho de Ponte de Sor nos séculos XIX e XX (1834-1974): pobres, beneméritos e instituições”. Atualmente dirige a Biblioteca e o Arquivo da Fundação António Prates, em Ponte de Sor. A sua principal área científica de investigação é a história da assistência, da política social e das instituições de saúde e história local. Tem publicados três estudos sobre a Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ponte de Sor, com destaque para O Hospital da Confraria de S. Francisco / Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ponte de Sor – das origens a 1850, e assina, desde 2007, uma rubrica mensal sobre história local no jornal Ecos do Sor.
Ana Isabel Coelho Pires da Silva holds a degree in History with a specialisation in Documental Sciences from the University of Coimbra. She is currently studying for a PhD in Contemporary History entitled “Política social no concelho de Ponte de Sor nos séculos XIX e XX (1834-1974): pobres, beneméritos e instituições” [Social policy in Ponte de Sor council area in the XIX and XX centuries (1834-1974): the poor, benefactors and institutions]. She is currently in charge of the Library and Archives of the António Prates Foundation in Ponte de Sor. Her main area of scientific interest and research is the history of assistance, social policy and health institutions, and local history. She has published three studies on Ponte de Sor Santa Casa da Misericórdia highlighting the Saint Francis Brotherhood Hospital and its origins to 1850, and since 2007 has written a monthly article about local history in the Ecos do Sor local newspaper.