Saunders, Dame Cicely (Cicely Mary Strode Saunders), 1918–2005, British physician, a pioneer in the modern hospice movement. She left Oxford during World War II to become a nurse (1944) and, after working as a medical social worker with cancer patients, a doctor (1957). As a physician she worked to improve the care of terminally ill patients and wrote Care of the Dying (1960), the first of several books. In 1967 she opened St. Christopher's Hospice, London, the first modern hospice, which became a model for hospice care internationally and a training facility for hospice workers. She served as its medical director until 1985. A Dame Commander of the British Empire from 1980, she was awarded Britain's Order of Merit in 1989. When she died, more than 8,000 hospices had been established throughout the world.
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