Elisabeth Shepping

Elisabeth Johanna Shepping (September 26, 1880 – June 23, 1934) was a German-born American nurse and missionary who served in South Korea for 22 years. Shepping was born in a Roman Catholic family but later converted to Protestantism after emigrating to America and becoming a nurse. Shepping was named one of the "Top 7 Greatest Missionary" by the Department of Foreign Missions of the Southern Presbyterian Church and described by the former Minister of Health and Welfare as the "Pioneer of [the] Korean feminist movement". Shepping founder the Neel Bible School which became the Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She also founded the E-il school for women. Shepping made a significant, diverse impact on the Korean communities she served, ranging from establishing and teaching schools, building churches, working as a nurse, translating nursing textbooks and publishing her own works, and rescuing hundreds of girls from prostitution. While some missionaries lived lavish lives separate from the underserved communities, Shepping did the opposite. She actively sought to become a member of the Korean communities she served. She did so by communicating with others only in Korean, living with poor widows while raising orphans, and changing her name to Korean: Seo Seo-pyeong.