This is a historical study that analyses the formation process of the professional habitus of Rachel Haddock Lobo through the reconstruction of her biography. It also analyses her contribution as 1 st editor in chief of Revista Annaes de Enfermagem (Brazilian Journal of Nursing), in 1932, which is currently called Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem. The preferential primary sources of this study included written documents and the oral testimony of one of Rachel Haddock Lobo's family members. Both sources were obtained from Centro de Documentação da Escola de Enfermagem Ana Nery (Documentation Center of Ana Neri School of Nursing). Data were analyzed through the concepts of habitus and social configuration by Norbert Elias. The analysis showed that Rachel Haddock Lobo gave expressive contribution to the creation process of the journal referred, which, on its turn, had an strategic importance on the formation of the identity of the Brazilian nursing professionals at that time.
history of nursing; memory; biography