South Africa has produced some remarkable African nurses who have worked in a range of posts, and it is important that their contribution to the nursing profession is acknowledged. The value of a biographic approach to research as a means of understanding the profession's past, and the beliefs of the time of its leaders and institutions is discussed. A profile of one black South African nurse, Professor Thembani Grace Mashaba, is offered as an example of somebody who achieved high academic status despite humble beginnings and, moreover, during the years of apartheid in South Africa. It is contended that biographic research of high profile nurses and, in this case of a black female nurse, is a way of inspiring others and of increasing understanding of the nursing profession itself.
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