Sophie Zahrtmann

Mette Sophie Zahrtmann (1841–1925) was a Danish deaconess and nurse. Zahrtmann became Sister Superior of the Danish Deaconess Institute in Copenhagen after the death of its founder Louise Conring in 1891. She is remembered for expanding the deaconess network in Denmark with additional homes and care centres and for adding theory to the training courses for nurses.

Early life Born on 23 July 1841 in Vammen to the north-west of Viborg, Zahrtmann was the daughter of Johan Henrich Zahrtmann and his wife Marie Dorothea Poulsen. She was one of seven children brought up in the rectory at Hatting near Horsens where her father was the parish priest. Like her cousin, the painter Kristian Zahrtmann, she was interested in art and took courses in drawing and painting.