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.
[1] 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[2] and described by the former Minister of Health and Welfare as the "Pioneer of [the] Korean feminist movement".
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.
[4] This eventually led to her decision to join a Southern Presbyterian Church mission trip to Joseon when she was 32 years old.
She served as president for 10 years and successfully applied for KNA to become part of the International Council of Nurses.
On top of nursing, Shepping highly valued education, so she established schools in South Korea.
Some of the topics that she covered related to reading, writing, hymnody, and biblical education as well as medicine and nursing to prevent disease from spreading throughout the community.
[4] Additionally, Shepping established a lady's school called E-il, where women were taught how to support themselves and make a living.
Since Korean women were usually addressed based on their family members or village, Shepping gave them Christian names.
[3] Shepping was appointed as the "Top 7 Greatest Missionary" by the Department of Foreign Missions of the Southern Presbyterian Church.
Kim Moim, a former Minister of Health and Welfare, stated that Shepping was a, "Pioneer of Korean feminist movement and a true descendant of Nightingale, the disciple of love".
[2] In 2017, a Christian documentary depicting her life of service was released, entitled 서서평, 천천히 평온하게 (Seo-Seo Pyeong, Slowly and Peacefully).