She was born on 27 January 1871 in Kragerø , Norway , in a family of a wealthy ship owner . In 1905 , after studying nursing in Germany , she was sent by " Women Missionary Organization " to the Ottoman Empire and worked as a missionary nurse in Mezereh , Kharberd province and later in Mush , Ottoman Empire . In cooperation with German missionaries she opened schools and a clinic housing widows and orphans . A witness of the Armenian Genocide , along with her colleagues she saved the lives of many homeless women and children . She also documented the tragic events she witnessed through her testimonial diary and her photography . In the Near East , Biørn took care of Armenian orphans in Syria , Armenia and Turkey . In 1922 she founded an orphanage named " Lusaghbyur " in Alexandropol , Soviet Armenia . Then she continued her work by aiding the Armenian refugees in Syria and Lebanon . She died in Oslo July 22.1960
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Bodil Katharine Biørn