Glasgow End of Life Studies Group

The life and work of Cicely Saunders

Cicely Mary Strode Saunders is often referred to as 'the founder of the modern hospice movement'. Born in June 1918, she trained as a nurse, a medical social worker and as a physician.

Dame Cicely Saunders received many honours for her work, which included defining the concept of 'total pain'. She founded St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967.

Professor David Clark, founder of the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group, published his biography of Cicely Saunders in June 2018;

Cicely Saunders: A Life and Legacy

Related publications

Clark, D. (2001) A special relationship: Cicely Saunders, the United States, and the early foundations of the modern hospice movement. Illness, Crisis and Loss, 9(1), pp. 15-30.

Clark, D. (2000) Publicaciones de Cicely Saunders: parte 1 de 1958 a 1967: bibliografia comentada. Medicina Paliativa, 7(1), pp. 31-40.

Clark, D. (2003) Dame Cicely Saunders. Pharos International, Summer, pp. 8-9.

Clark, D. (2002) Cicely Saunders: Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected Letters 1959-1999. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. ISBN 9780198516071

Clark, D. (2005) An interview with Cicely Saunders: da Oxford alla cura dei morenti, un viaggio professionale e spirituale. Rivista Italiana di Cure Palliative, 3(Autumn), pp. 10-20.

Clark, D. (2000) Total pain: the work of Cicely Saunders and the hospice movement. American Pain Society Bulletin, 10(4), pp. 13-15.

Clark, D. (2016) To Comfort Always: a history of palliative medicine from the nineteenth century. Series: Oxford medical histories. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199674282

Clark, D. (1999) An annotated bibliography of the publications of Cicely Saunders – 2: 1968–77. Palliative Medicine, 13(6), pp. 485-501. (doi: 10.1191/026921699677249209)

Wright, M. and Clark, D. (2012) Cicely Saunders and the development of hospice palliative care. In: Coward, H. and Stajduhar, K.I. (eds.) Religious Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice Palliative Care. Series: SUNY series in religious studies. State University of New York Press: Albany, N.Y.. ISBN 9781438442730

Clark, D. (1998) Originating a movement: Cicely Saunders and the development of St. Christopher's Hospice. Mortality, 3(1), pp. 43-63. (doi: 10.1080/713685885)

Clark, D. (1999) 'Total pain', disciplinary power and the body in the work of Cicely Saunders, 1958–1967. Social Science and Medicine, 49(6), pp. 727-736. (doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00098-2)

Clark, D. (1998) An annotated bibliography of the publications of Cicely Saunders – 1: 1958-67. Palliative Medicine, 12(3), pp. 181-193. (doi: 10.1191/026921698678023443)