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Henry Dunant Biography

Birthday: May 8 , 1828 ( Taurus )

Born In: Geneva, Switzerland

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Also Known As: Jean-Henri Dunant, Henri Dunant

Died At Age: 82

father: Jean-Jacques Dunant

mother: Antoinette Dunant-Colladon

Nobel Peace Prize Business People

Died on: October 30 , 1910

place of death: Heiden, Switzerland

City: Geneva, Switzerland

Founder/Co-Founder: International Committee of the Red Cross, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, Swiss Red Cross

awards: Nobel Peace Prize (1901)

You wanted to know

What inspired henry dunant to establish the red cross.

Henry Dunant was inspired to establish the Red Cross after witnessing the suffering of wounded soldiers at the Battle of Solferino in 1859.

How did Henry Dunant's experiences at the Battle of Solferino lead to the creation of the Geneva Convention?

Henry Dunant's experiences at the Battle of Solferino led to the creation of the Geneva Convention because he was appalled by the lack of medical care for wounded soldiers, prompting him to advocate for the establishment of international laws to protect the sick and wounded during conflicts.

What is the significance of Henry Dunant's book "A Memory of Solferino?"

Henry Dunant's book "A Memory of Solferino" is significant because it not only documented the horrific scenes he witnessed during the battle but also laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention.

How did Henry Dunant contribute to the founding of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement?

Henry Dunant contributed to the founding of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement by co-founding the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863, which aimed to provide aid to wounded soldiers regardless of their nationality.

What impact did Henry Dunant's humanitarian work have on the development of international humanitarian law?

Henry Dunant's humanitarian work had a significant impact on the development of international humanitarian law as it laid the foundation for the Geneva Conventions, which established rules for the humane treatment of wounded and sick individuals during armed conflicts.

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Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross, was a dedicated advocate for humanitarian causes, but he also had a passion for poetry and literature. He published several works during his lifetime, showcasing his creative side.

Despite his serious and noble efforts in promoting humanitarian principles, Dunant had a playful side. He was known to have a great sense of humor and enjoyed making people laugh with his witty remarks and jokes.

In addition to his philanthropic work, Dunant was a lover of nature and often found solace in spending time outdoors. He had a deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural world and would often seek inspiration from it.

While Dunant is primarily remembered for his contributions to the field of humanitarian aid, he was also a skilled businessman. He had a keen eye for opportunities and successfully managed various business ventures throughout his life.

See the events in life of Henry Dunant in Chronological Order

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Henri Dunant

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Henri Dunant (born May 8, 1828, Geneva , Switzerland—died October 30, 1910, Heiden) was a Swiss humanitarian, founder of the Red Cross (now Red Cross and Red Crescent ) and the World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations. He was cowinner (with Frédéric Passy ) of the first Nobel Prize for Peace in 1901.

An eyewitness of the Battle of Solferino (June 24, 1859), which resulted in nearly 40,000 casualties , Dunant organized emergency aid services for the Austrian and French wounded. In Un Souvenir de Solférino (1862; A Memory of Solferino ), he proposed the formation in all countries of voluntary relief societies for the prevention and alleviation of suffering in war and peacetime, without distinction of race or creed; he also proposed an international agreement covering the war wounded. In 1863 he founded the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded (now International Committee of the Red Cross ), and the following year the first national societies and the first Geneva Convention came into being.

Having gone bankrupt because he neglected his business affairs, Dunant left Geneva in 1867 and spent most of the rest of his life in poverty and obscurity. He continued to promote interest in the treatment of prisoners of war, the abolition of slavery, international arbitration, disarmament , and the establishment of a Jewish homeland. After he was “rediscovered” by a journalist in Heiden, Switzerland , in 1895, Dunant received many honours and annuities.

Jean Henri Dunant

Jean Henri Dunant (May 8, 1828 - October 30, 1910), also known as Henry Dunant or Henri Dunant, was a Swiss businessman and social activist. During a business trip in 1859, he was witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in modern day Italy . He recorded his memories and experiences in the book, A Memory of Solferino, which became the inspiration for the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

• 1 Early life and education
• 3 Battle of Solferino
• 4 The Red Cross
• 5 Forgotten period
• 6 Return to public memory
• 7 Nobel Peace Prize
• 11 References
• 12 External links

The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant's ideas and in 1901, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy. The series of Geneva Conventions are among the foundation documents of international law. The International Committee of the Red Cross has played a vital role in helping to regulate the conduct of war and the treatment of prisoners. Its aid workers have often been the first to reach, and the last to leave, areas of humanitarian need or of crises. Few agencies have such a distinguished record of service to humanity.

Early life and education

Dunant was born in Geneva, Switzerland, as the first son of businessman Jean-Jacques Dunant and his wife, Antoinette Dunant-Colladon. His family was very devoutly Calvinist and had significant influence in Geneva society. His parents strongly stressed the value of social work, and his father was active helping orphans and parolees, while his mother worked with the sick and poor. Particularly influential for young Dunant was a visit to Toulon, where he saw the suffering of prison inmates.

Dunant grew up during the period of religious awakening known as the Réveil, and at age eighteen, he joined the Geneva Society for Alms Giving. In the following year, together with friends, he founded the so-called "Thursday Association," a loose band of young men that met to study the Bible and help the poor, and he spent much of his free time engaged in prison visits and social work. On November 30, 1852, he founded the Geneva chapter of the YMCA and three years later, he took part in the Paris meeting devoted to the founding of its international organization.

At age twenty-four, Dunant was forced to leave the Collège Calvin because of bad grades, and he began an apprenticeship with the money-changing firm, Lullin und Sautter . After its successful conclusion, he remained as an employee of the bank.

In 1853, Dunant visited Algeria , Tunisia , and Sicily , on assignment with a company devoted to the "colonies of Setif" (Compagnie genevoise des Colonies de Sétif) . Despite little experience, he successfully fulfilled the assignment. Inspired by the trip, he wrote his first book with the title, An Account of the Regency in Tunis (Notice sur la Régence de Tunis) , published in 1858.

In 1856, he created a business to operate in foreign colonies, and, after granted a land concession by French-occupied Algeria, a corn-growing and trading company called the Financial and Industrial Company of Mons-Djémila Mills (Société financière et industrielle des Moulins des Mons-Djémila) . However, the land and water rights were not clearly assigned, and the colonial authorities were not especially cooperative. As a result, Dunant decided to appeal directly to French emperor Napoléon III, who was with his army in Lombardy at the time. France was fighting on the side of Piedmont-Sardinia against Austria , who had occupied much of today's Italy . Napoleon's headquarters were located in the small city of Solferino. Dunant wrote a flattering book full of praise for Napoleon III with the intention to present it to the emperor, and then traveled to Solferino to meet with him personally.

Battle of Solferino

Dunant arrived in Solferino on the evening of June 24, 1859, on the same day a battle between the two sides had occurred nearby. Thirty-eight thousand injured, dying, and dead remained on the battlefield, and there appeared to be little attempt to provide care. Shocked, Dunant himself took the initiative to organize the civilian population, especially the women and girls, to provide assistance to the injured and sick soldiers. They lacked sufficient materials and supplies, and Dunant himself organized the purchase of needed materials and helped erect makeshift hospitals. He convinced the population to service the injured without regard to their side in the conflict as per the slogan "Tutti fratelli" ("All are brothers") coined by the women of nearby city, Castiglione delle Stiviere. He also succeeded in gaining the release of Austrian doctors captured by the French.

The Red Cross

After returning to Geneva early in July, Dunant decided to write a book about his experiences, which he titled Un Souvenir de Solferino (A Memory of Solferino) . It was published in 1862, in an edition of 1,600 copies and was printed at Dunant's own expense. Within the book, he described the battle, its costs, and the chaotic circumstances afterwards. He also developed the idea that in the future, a neutral organization should exist to provide care to wounded soldiers. He distributed the book to many leading political and military figures in Europe.

Dunant also began to travel through Europe to promote his ideas. His book was largely positively received, and the President of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, jurist Gustave Moynier, made the book and its suggestions the topic of the February 9, 1863, meeting of the organization. Dunant's recommendations were examined and positively assessed by the members. They created a five-person Committee to further pursue the possibility of their implementation and made Dunant one of the members. The others were Moynier, the Swiss army general Henri Dufour, and doctors Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir. Their first meeting on February 17, 1863, is now considered the founding date of the International Committee of the Red Cross .

From early on, Moynier and Dunant had increasing disagreements and conflicts regarding their respective visions and plans. Moynier considered Dunant's idea to establish neutrality protections for care providers implausible and advised Dunant not to insist upon this concept. However, Dunant continued to advocate this position in his travels and conversations with high-ranking political and military figures. This intensified the personal conflict between Moynier, who took a rather pragmatic approach to the project, and Dunant, who was the visionary idealist among the five, and led to efforts by Moynier to attack Dunant and his bid for leadership.

In October 1863, fourteen states took part in a meeting in Geneva organized by the committee to discuss the improvement of care for wounded soldiers. Dunant himself, however, was only a protocol leader because of Moynier's efforts to diminish his role. A year later, a diplomatic conference organized by the Swiss Parliament led to the signing of the first Geneva Convention by twelve states. Dunant, again, was only in charge of organizing accommodation for the attendees.

Forgotten period

Dunant's businesses in Algeria had suffered, partially because of his devotion to his ideas. His Nobel Biography points out that he "poured his" own "money and time into the cause," so much so that after his business failed he would sometimes dine "on a crust of bread, blackened his coat with ink, whitened his collar with chalk" and "slept out of doors." [1] In April 1867, the bankruptcy of the financial firm Crédit Genevois led to a scandal involving Dunant. He was forced to declare bankruptcy and was condemned by the Geneva Trade Court on August 17, 1868, for deceptive practices in the bankruptcies. Due to their investments in the firm, his family and many of his friends were also heavily affected by the downfall of the company. The social outcry in Geneva, a city deeply rooted in Calvinist traditions, also led to calls for him to separate himself from the International Committee. On August 25, 1867, he resigned as Secretary and on September 8, he was fully removed from the Committee. Moynier, who had become President of the Committee in 1864, played a major role in his expulsion.

In February 1868, Dunant's mother died. Later that year he was also expelled from the YMCA. In March 1867, he left his home city Geneva and would not return for the rest of his life. In the following years, Moynier likely used his influence to attempt to insure that Dunant would not receive assistance from his friends and support. For example, the gold medal prize of Sciences Morales at the Paris World's Fair did not go to Dunant as originally planned but to Moynier, Dufour, and Dunant together so that the prize money would only go to the Committee as a whole. Napoléon III's offer to take over half of Dunant's debts if Dunant's friends would secure the other half was also thwarted by Moynier's efforts.

Dunant moved to Paris where he lived in poor and meager conditions. However, he continued to pursue his humanitarian ideas and plans. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), he founded the "Common Relief Society" (Allgemeine Fürsorgegesellschaft) and soon after, the "Common Alliance for Order and Civilization" (Allgemeine Allianz für Ordnung und Zivilisation) . He argued for disarmament negotiations and for the erection of an international court to mediate international conflicts. Later, he worked for the erection of a world library, an idea which has echoes in future projects like those of UNESCO . He also advocated the creation of a Jewish state in the area of Palestine/ Israel .

However, due to his continued pursuit and advocacy of his ideas, he further neglected his personal situation and income, falling further in debt and being shunned by his acquaintances. Despite being appointed an honorary member of the national Red Cross societies of Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Prussia, and Spain, he was nearly forgotten in the official discourse of the Red Cross Movement, even as it was rapidly expanding to new countries. He lived in poverty, moving to various places between 1874 and 1886, including Stuttgart, Rome , Corfu, Basel, and Karlsruhe. In Stuttgart, he met the Tübingen University student Rudolf Müller with whom he would have a close friendship. In 1881, together with friends from Stuttgart, he went to the small Swiss resort village Heiden for the first time. In 1887, while living in London, he began to receive some monthly financial support from some distant family members. Enabling him to live a bit more secure existence, he moved to Heiden in July. He spent the rest of his life there and after April 30, 1892, he lived in a hospital and nursing home led by Dr. Hermann Altherr.

In Heiden, he met the young teacher, Wilhelm Sonderegger, and his wife, Susanna; they encouraged him to record his life experiences. Sonderegger's wife founded a branch of the Red Cross in Heiden and in 1890, Dunant became its honorary president. With Sonderegger, Dunant hoped to further promote his ideas, including publishing a new edition of his book. However, later their friendship was strained by Dunant's unjustified accusations that Sonderegger was somehow conspiring against Dunant with Moynier in Geneva. Sonderegger died in 1904, at the age of only forty-two. Despite their strained relationship, Dunant was deeply moved by the unexpected death. Wilhelm and Susanna Sonderegger's admiration for Dunant, felt by both even after Dunant's allegations, was passed on to their children. In 1935, their son René published a compilation of letters from Dunant to his father.

Return to public memory

In September 1895, Georg Baumberger, the chief editor of the St. Gallen newspaper, Die Ostschweiz, wrote an article about the Red Cross founder, whom he had met and conversed with during a walk in Heiden a month earlier. The article, entitled "Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross," appeared in the German Illustrated Magazine, Über Land und Meer, and the article was soon reprinted in other publications throughout Europe. The article struck a chord, and he received renewed attention and support. He received the Swiss Binet-Fendt Prize and a note from Pope Leo XIII . Because of support from Russian tsarist widow, Maria Feodorovna and other donations, his financial situation improved remarkably.

In 1897, Rudolf Müller, who was now working as a teacher in Stuttgart, wrote a book about the origins of the Red Cross, altering the official history to stress Dunant's role. The book also contained the text of "A memory of Solferino." Dunant began an exchange of correspondence with Bertha von Suttner and wrote numerous articles and writings. He was also especially active in writing about women's rights and in 1897, facilitated the founding of a "Green Cross" women's organization.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 1901, Dunant was awarded the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize for his role in founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiating the Geneva Convention. Norwegian military physician Hans Daae, who had received a copy of Rudolf Müller's book, advocated Dunant's case on the Nobel committee. The award was jointly given to French pacifist Frédéric Passy, founder of the Peace League and active with Dunant in the Alliance for Order and Civilization . The official congratulations which he received from the International Committee finally represented the long overdue rehabilitation of Dunant's reputation:

"There is no man who more deserves this honour, for it was you, forty years ago, who set on foot the international organization for the relief of the wounded on the battlefield. Without you, the Red Cross, the supreme humanitarian achievement of the nineteenth century would probably have never been undertaken."

Moynier and the International Committee as a whole had also been nominated for the prize. Although Dunant was supported by a broad spectrum in the selection process, he was still a controversial candidate. Some argued that the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention had made war more attractive and imaginable by eliminating some of its suffering. Therefore, Rudolf Müller, in a letter to the committee, argued that the prize should be divided between Dunant and Passy, who was for some time in the debate the leading candidate to solely receive the prize. Müller also suggested that if a prize were to be warranted for Dunant, it should be given immediately because of his advanced age and ill health.

By dividing the prize between strict pacifist Passy and humanitarian Dunant, the Nobel Committee set a precedent for the conditions of the Nobel Peace Prize selection which would have significant consequences for later years. A section of Nobel's will had indicated the prize should go to an individual who had worked to reduce or eliminate standing armies or directly promote peace conferences, which made Passy a natural choice for his peace work. On the other hand, the arguably distinct bestowal for humanitarian effort alone was seen by some as a wide interpretation of Nobel's will. However, another part of Nobel's testament marked the prize for the individual who had best enhanced the "brotherhood of people," which could be read more generally to see humanitarian work like Dunant's as connected to peacemaking as well. Many recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in later years can be assigned to either of these two categories first roughly established by the Nobel committee's decision in 1901.

Hans Daae succeeded in placing Dunant's part of the prize money, 104,000 Swiss Francs, in a Norwegian Bank and preventing access by his creditors. Dunant himself never spent any of the money during his life time.

Among several other awards in the following years, in 1903, Dunant was given an honorary doctorate by the medical faculty of the University of Heidelberg. He lived in the nursing home in Heiden until his death. In the final years of his life, he suffered from depression and paranoia about pursuit by his creditors and Moynier. There were even days when Dunant insisted that the cook of the nursing home first taste his food before his eyes to protect him against possible poisoning. Although he continued to profess Christian beliefs, in his final years he spurned and attacked Calvinism and organized religion generally.

According to his nurses, the final act of his life was to send a copy of Müller's book to the Italian queen with a personal dedication. He died on October 30, 1910, at 10 p.m., ironically outliving his nemesis, Moynier, by just two months. Despite the ICRC's congratulations at the bestowal of the Nobel prize, the two rivals never reached a reconciliation.

According to his wishes, he was buried without ceremony in the Sihlfeld Cemetery in Zürich . In his will, he donated funds to secure a "free bed" in the Heiden nursing home always to be available for a poor citizen of the region and deeded some money to friends and charitable organizations in Norway and Switzerland. The remaining funds went to his creditors, partially relieving his debt; his inability to fully erase his debts was a major burden to him until his death.

His birthday, May 8, is celebrated as the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. The building of the nursing home in Heiden now holds the Henry Dunant Museum. In Geneva and other places, there are numerous streets, squares, and schools named after him. The Henry Dunant Medal, given every two years by the standing commission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is its highest decoration.

The period of his life regarding the foundation of The Red Cross is represented, with some fictional elements, in the film Henry Dunant: Du Rouge Sur La Croix.

The International Committee of the Red Cross remains one of the most important Non Governmental Organizations (NGO). It enjoys permanent observer status at the United Nations . Through the series of Geneva Conventions, it has impacted on international law and has the unique right to visit war zones and prisoner of war camps. No other organization of national government enjoys this right in law. It has assisted millions of people around the world. The ICRC itself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944, and in 1963, jointly with Red Cross Societies, and as the Nobel Committee itself writes, "The Red Cross has a unique position in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's choice of Henry Dunant as 1901 laureate was a direct recognition of the role of the ICRC in promoting peace. In this light, it is nearly justifiable to call the Red Cross a "four-time recipient of the Peace Prize." [2]

• ↑ Norwegian Nobel Committee, Henry Dunant—biography. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
• ↑ Nobel Prize, The Red Cross: Three Time Recipient of the Peace Prize. Retrieved July 20, 2007.

References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Boissier, Pierre. History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume I: From Solferino to Tsushima. Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute, 1985. ISBN 2-88044-012-2
• Durant, Henry. A Memory of Solferino. Geneva: ICRC 1986. ISBN 2-88145-006-7
• Gumpert, Martin. Dunant. Der Roman des Roten Kreuzes. Frankfurt: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1987. ISBN 3-596-25261-X
• Hasler, Eveline. Der Zeitreisende. Die Visionen des Henry Dunant. Zurich: Verlag Nagel & Kimche, 1994. ISBN 3-312-00199-4
• Heudtlass, Willy and Walter Gruber. Jean Henry Dunant. Gründer des Roten Kreuzes, Urheber der Genfer Konvention. 4. Auflage. Stuttgart: Verlag Kohlhammer, 1985. ISBN 3-17-008670-7
• Moorehead, Caroline. Dunant's Dream: War, Switzerland and the History of the Red Cross. London: HarperCollins, 1998. ISBN 0-00-255141-1

External links

All links retrieved May 1, 2018.

• Société Henry Dunant (French)
• Nobel website biography of Henri Dunant
• Red Cross Movement and Nobel Prizes
• Complete text of "A Memory of Solferino"

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Jean Henri Dunant Biography (1828-1910)

With his life's work dedicated to the needs of others, the Swiss humanitarianJean Henri Dunant is best known as the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Born in Geneva into an affluent family whoconsidered religion and charity a priority, Dunant's father and grandfather held important positions in Geneva, including member of Geneva's governing council, director of a Geneva hospital and mayor of nearby Avully.

Dunant began shaping his future with early interests in finance, religion, and public service. A student of economics during the day, he dedicated his evenings to the poor and sick as a representative of the League of Alms. Following in the footsteps of his Calvinist family, Dunant attended church regularlyon Sundays, and then brought the message of religion to a local prison. He pursued his religion further when Dunant joined the Réveil (Awakening)evangelical movement at the age of 18. Eager to become a catalyst for new ideas, Dunant began to support the abolition of slavery after meeting American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853, and he became active in the newly formedYoung Men's Christian Academy (YMCA), which opened its first European branchin Paris in 1855.

At the age of 26 years old, Dunant began a position with one of Geneva's largest banking houses in North Africa and Sicily. While knowing this position would produce his income, Dunant continued to work for charitable causes and established a YMCA outpost in Algeria. As a writer, he published his travel observations of North Africa in Notice sur la régence de Tunis (AnAccount of the Regency in Tunis). Dunant's interest in slavery was called toattention when one long chapter was published separately from Notice as L'Esclavage chez les musulmans et aux États-Unis d'Amérique (Slavery Among the Mohammedans and in the United States of America, 1863.)

In 1859, Dunant's world would change as he left his profession in finance andpurchased a large amount of land in the French colony of Algeria with plansof raising cattle and grain. He solicited 100 million Swiss francs by organizing a company supported by investments from family and friends to make his farm a reality but Dunant was missing one key ingredient: water that must be piped from government-owned land. His appeal to Algerian officials went unanswered, and Dunant decided to personally receive a direct answer from Emperor Napoleon III of France. Upon visiting Napoleon on June 24, 1859 in Solferino, Italy where he was leading the French army and its Italian allies against theAustrians, Dunant witnessed one of nineteenth-century Europe's bloodiest battles. When arriving in nearby Castiglione at the Battle of Solferino, Dunant witnessed the killings and woundings of 40,000. Described by Dunant as "indescribably hideous," he immediately joined the 6,000 people who streamed into Solferino to remove the wounded to Castiglione.

Caring for the wounded in temporary hospitals that were set up in houses, army barracks and the town church and cloister, Dunant became an aid to soldiersfrom both sides of the war. When he came upon a group of Italian soldiers about to throw several wounded Austrian soldiers down the steps of a church, called the Chiesa Maggiore, in Castiglione he was alarmed. "Stop," Dunant yelled. "You must not! They are brothers!" The Austrians were released, and Sono fratelli (They Are Brothers) was the name given to the relief effort.

As the director at the Chiesa Maggiore, Dunant gathered food, organized firstaid workers, and recruited tourists, priests, and journalists to help the wounded. With only two badly injured doctors available and three days of relentless care to those in need, Dunant went to the French army headquarters to request the release of all medically trained prisoners into his custody. Charitable organizations in Geneva also sent supplies from Dunant's requests and heorganized additional relief efforts at battle sites in Brescia and Milan.

Shortly after Solferino's unforgettable plight, Dunant wrote Un Souvenir de Solferino (A Memory of Solferino, 1862) where he told of battle's cruelty to humanity, described the relief effort in Castiglione, and made a proposal to "take advantage of a special congress to formulate some international principle, with the sanction of an inviolable Convention which, once accepted and ratified, might constitute a basis for Societies for the relief of the wounded in various countries of Europe." His book received praise from journalists andEurope's high society.

The first to act on Dunant's idea of cooperative national war relief organizations was the Geneva Public Welfare Society, a private humanitarian organization of leading citizens. By February of the following year, they created a five-member committee that included Dunant. He stressed the importance of approaching the entire world with their mission to gain support. Dunant's public campaign turned to influential public figures, including Victor Hugo, CharlesDickens, and Florence Nightingale, to help organize an international conference that would become responsible for arranging the work of national war relief groups.

Dunant's efforts were successful as 39 delegates from 16 countries met at Geneva on October 26, 1863. The delegates' work was swift in drafting a treaty which guaranteed the neutrality of relief workers and adopting the Swiss flagwith the colors reversed, a red cross on white, as their emblem, and as a wayto honor Dunant and his government. This meeting marked the creation of theICRC, and the beginning of the Red Cross movement. In 1864, representatives from 12 nations signed the treaty, known as the Geneva Convention, in Paris.

While personal triumphs were being celebrated by Dunant, his neglected business in Algeria forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1867. His good deeds were overlooked by several investors, and he was shunned by the Geneva society whohad once applauded him. Dunant soon fell into poverty. Although financially ruined, Dunant continued to make great strides at the 1867 general meeting ofthe Red Cross, where he proposed the same inviolable status as the sick and wounded to the prisoners of war. To help make this a reality, he founded the Provident Society during the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. With a mission to pursue the official neutrality of prisoners, the Provident Society (which cameto be known as the World Alliance for Order and Civilization in 1872) established chapters in Britain and France to spread their message. The rights of prisoners were addressed at the first conference in Brussels in 1874 as the rules of war and the treatment of prisoners were outlined. These were eventuallyacknowledged by other countries as Red Cross chapters were established throughout the world.

With all efforts turned towards the World Alliance from 1871 to 1874, Dunantthen became vocally involved with the slave trade as he campaigned against it. While slavery was illegal in Europe, regulations drafted by the British Admiralty stated that naval vessels must surrender runaway slaves who looked forBritish protection aboard the ships when docking at the fugitive's home ports. Dunant organized such a powerful protest against these orders as a memberof the Anti-Slavery Society in Britain and France that they were soon revoked.

Once again showing love for his neighbor, Dunant supported the European Jewswho yearned to return to their homeland in Palestine. To help make this a reality, he founded the International Society for the Revival of the Orient in 1864 whose main goal was to establish a European colony in Palestine. While financing was planned by the Syrian and Palestine Colonization Society in 1876,Dunant's plans were stopped when the war between Turkey and Russia in the same year kept the Turkish sultan, Abdul-Hamid from providing land grants for the cause.

No longer acknowledged by family or friends, Dunant chose a solitary life after 1876 that allowed only short public appearances to raise funds for the World Alliance. Living in a garret in southern England, his last brief positionwas as secretary for Frèdèric Passy's French Society of the Friends of Peace in Paris. He wandered home to Switzerland, surviving as a beggar from village to village, but always keeping a meticulous appearance by using ink to blacken his coat and chalk to whiten his shirt. Time found him entering a hospice in the village of Heiden in 1892, where he spent his remainingyears.

Three years later, a journalist named Wilhelm Sondregger found Dunant and published his interview with the humanitarian throughout Europe. Personal interest in his lifelong cause became apparent from the dowager empress of Russia,who provided him a small pension, and editor Bertha von Suttner asked him tocontribute regularly to her pacifist periodical.

In 1901, the first Nobel Peace Prize was presented to Dunant and Frèdèric Passy. While unable to attend due to illness, Dunant's life work that instigated peaceful cooperation among nations was respectfully honored. Because he never married, Dunant left the entire proceeds of his prize to philanthropic organizations in Norway and Sweden upon his death in 1910. A free bed for the poor in Heiden at the hospice was also granted from his last requests.

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Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Humanitarian for all: The life of Henry Dunant

Stephen Kosnar Lima, Peru

In his late thirties and bankrupt, Henry Dunant lived in abject poverty, on occasion being forced to eat bread crusts and sleep outdoors in Paris. It is a bitter slice of one man’s history, particularly given that only a few years earlier he had founded the International Committee of the Red Cross. 1

Born on May 8, 1828 in Geneva, Jean-Henri Dunant, later known as Henry Dunant, grew up under the strong moral influence of his father, a merchant and magistrate, and his mother, who encouraged him to seek out the less fortunate in society. 2

By age twenty-five, Dunant, having joined the Evangelical Society after having a religious awakening, helped found the Geneva chapter of the YMCA and three years later was active in creating its international organization. 3

As Dunant’s humanitarian life blossomed, he simultaneously devoted energy to his professional life. Dunant started an apprenticeship in banking and ultimately took a finance job with the Geneva-based company Compagnie des Colonies suisses de Sétif . 4 In 1853 the company sent him on assignment to Algeria. The North African people and culture transfixed Dunant. Despite his deep Christian roots, he studied both the Islamic religion and Arabic. 5 Furthermore, after successfully completing his assignment, he committed to continuing work in Algeria, creating his own company Societe Anonyme des Moulins de Mons-Djemila to grow crops and build mills in the country. He capitalized 100,000,000 francs and acquired land rights, but the Algerian colonial authorities blocked his access to water. 6,7

After exhausting his contacts in Paris and still lacking water rights, Dunant decided to take his case directly to Emperor Napoleon III (the son of Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother). To be sure, it was a bold move, made even bolder by the fact Napoleon III was not in France. He was fighting a war in Italy. 8

Undaunted, Dunant set off to track down the emperor in Solferino, where French soldiers joined the fight for Italian independence from Austria. Dunant never found Napoleon.

On June 24, near Solferino, fighting broke out in a battle that produced so many casualties it would be compared to Waterloo and Leipzig. French and Piedmontese forces totaling over 100,000 troops engaged an Austrian force of equal size. The fighting was particularly gruesome. The use of swords and bayonets left disemboweled bodies on the battlefield; others were torn apart from bullets and cannonballs, and skulls lay crushed from rifle butts. 9

The night of the 24th, Dunant arrived by carriage in Castiglione, a small town near the Solferino battle. Thousands of wounded soldiers lined the streets and filled the town square. Dazed by the horrors, he descended his carriage and set off by foot up the road to the church Chiesa Maggiore . Dunant entered the church and was greeted by the screams of wounded soldiers and the fetid smell of excretion and infection. 10

Dunant had no medical training but went to work helping the soldiers. He cleaned wounds and made dressings. Thirst was also a major problem for the wounded. Dunant wrote:

There, is an unfortunate man a part of whose face, the nose, lips and chin have been cut away by the stroke of a sword. Incapable of speech, half blind, he makes signs with his hands, and by that heartrending pantomime, accompanied by guttural sounds, draws attention to himself. I give him a drink by dropping gently on his blood-covered face a little pure water. 11

Inside the church, Dunant found French soldiers as well as Austrian soldiers. Some of the latter, suspicious of the care they received, tore bandages from their wounds. Dunant, however, resolutely stuck to a moral principle of treating all the wounded equally, no matter what their nationality.

During the days following the battle, Dunant also recruited local women to help provide care. He noticed that they followed his example of treating all soldiers no matter their origin; and while they worked, he repeatedly heard them say tutti fratelli , meaning all brothers . 12

Dunant eventually returned to Paris; and after unsuccessfully lobbying authorities to help with his water problem, he traveled home to Geneva. The entire time his thoughts kept returning to Solferino. He reached an emotional and inspirational tipping point that resulted in his writing a memoir Un Souvenir de Solferino (A Memory of Solferino).

Battle of Solferino, June 24, 1859 . Adolphe Yvon. 1861. Collections du château de Versailles.

Dunant’s writing vividly captured the battle of Solferino and its aftermath, as well as his efforts to provide medical care. The descriptions range from journalistic: “The line of battle is ten miles long. . . . On all sides bugles are playing the charges and the drums are sounding,” 13 to literary:

“A little further on lies a dying Zouave who is weeping bitter tears, and we console him as if he were a little child. The preceding fatigue, the lack of food and repose, the intensity of the pain, the fear of dying without help, excites even in these brave soldiers a nervous sensibility which betrays itself by sobs.” 14

The book received praise for its quality of writing and quality of content. Dunant’s genius, however, was in the form. After describing the battle and the aftermath, Dunant wrote a prescription for how to better serve the wounded during war. He called for a congress to draft and ratify a set of principles allowing aid societies, under the direction of committees, to provide relief during war. Dunant wrote:

“In order to establish these committees at the head of the societies, all that is necessary is a little good-will on the part of some honorable and persevering persons. The committees, animated by an international spirit of charity, would create corps of nurses in a latent state, a sort of staff. The committees of the different nations, although independent of one another, will know how to understand and correspond with each other, to convene in congress and, in event of war, to act for the good of all.” 15

In 1863, having read Dunant’s book, Gustave Moynier, the president of the Public Welfare Association of Geneva, contacted Dunant about putting his humanitarian relief program into action. They created a five-person committee that organized a four-day conference held in Geneva. 16 Delegates from sixteen nations attended the International Conference, and on October 29 they passed ten resolutions and three wishes. The resolutions called for establishing medical relief societies, holding additional conferences, and creating the symbol for all medical personnel to wear: a red cross on a white background, the inverse of the Swiss flag. The wishes reflected Dunant’s desire for all medical personnel to be considered neutral in war. With the passing of the resolutions and wishes on October 29, the Red Cross was born. 17 The official name International Committee for Relief of Wounded Soldiers was changed in 1876 to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

After fulfilling his vision for creating an international relief organization, Henry Dunant’s life spun into a sad denouement. During the years of his humanitarian work, Dunant neglected his Algerian business, which folded. Then in 1867, the bank Crédit Genevois declared bankruptcy. Dunant sat on the board and personally declared bankruptcy, a move that resulted in his formally being charged for deceptive practices. 18 With his reputation tarnished, Dunant was forced to resign as secretary of the International Committee, his humanitarian vision born on the bloody battlefields of Solferino. 19

During this time, Dunant moved to Paris. With his finances depleted after years of traveling at his own expense for humanitarian work, he used chalk to whiten his shirt and ink to blacken his coat; and at times, he ate bread crusts and slept outdoors. For several years, he tried to continue working humanitarian causes, but then in 1875 Henry Dunant, the man who gave the world the International Committee of the Red Cross, disappeared. 20

For fifteen years, Dunant’s whereabouts were unknown and Geneva newspapers published he had died. However, in 1890 in the small Swiss village Heiden, schoolchildren told their teacher about a man in a black cap and white beard that engaged the students. The teacher Wilhelm Sonderegger investigated and discovered it was Henry Dunant. Sonderegger wrote the International Conference of the Red Cross in Rome so they could inform the delegates. 21 The news did not evoke a strong response, but three years later journalist Georg Baumberger visited Heiden and interviewed Dunant, who lived in a hospice. His subsequent article delineating both Dunant’s poverty and massive contribution to society touched people. The article was widely circulated, earning Dunant a revival in popularity. 22

With the fire of Dunant’s renown reignited, the Nobel Committee in Norway awarded Henry Dunant the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, along with Frédéric Passy, organizer of the first Universal Peace Congress. The Committee congratulated Dunant with the following statement:

There is no man who more deserves this honor, for it was you, 40 years ago, who set on foot the international organization for the relief of the wounded on the battlefield. Without you, the Red Cross, the supreme humanitarian achievement of the 19th century would probably have never been undertaken. 23

Despite his resurgence into the public spotlight, Henry Dunant never left the hospice in Heiden nor did he spend any of his prize money. He died in October, 1910. Having abandoned the religion that had been the driving force early in his life, he called for no funeral and to be carried to his grave “like a dog.” 24

Today the International Committee for the Red Cross has 18,000 staff in over ninety countries and is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. 25

• Henry Dunant – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Wed. 11 Dec 2019. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1901/dunant/biographical/. Accessed December 23, 2019.
• Pierre Boissier. Henry Dunant. Henry Dunant Institute, 1974.
• Warner, Daniel. “Henry Dunant’s Imagined Community: Humanitarianism and the Tragic.” Alternatives : Global, Local, Political . Vol. 38, no. 1, 2013, pp. 10-11.
• “Jean Henri Dunant.”  New World Encyclopedia . 1 May 2018. www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Jean_Henri_Dunant&oldid=1011223. Accessed January 13, 2020.
• Pierre Boissier, Henry Dunant. Henry Dunant Institute, 1974.
• Dunant, Henri, translated by Wright, Mrs. David H. The Origin of the Red Cross, “Un Souvenir de Solferino.” The John C. Winston Co. 1911, pp. 2-5.
• Dunant, Henri, translated by Wright, Mrs. David H. The Origin of the Red Cross, “Un Souvenir de Solferino.” The John C. Winston Co. 1911, p. 31.
• Ibid. pp. 39-40.
• Ibid. p. 5.
• Ibid. pp. 37.
• Ibid. p. 90.
• Harvey, Holman. “Evangelist of Mercy.” Rotarian , September 1944: p. 52.
• “The ICRC worldwide,” ICRC , https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work. Accessed January 13, 2020.

STEPHEN KOSNAR   is a freelance writer interested in healthcare topics. He has written for the Medical Review of North Carolina as well as the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He currently lives in Lima, Peru, with his wife (a physician) and three children.

Winner of the 2019–2020 Blood Writing Contest & Highlighted in Frontispiece Volume 12, Issue 2 – Spring 2020

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(1828–1910). Swiss humanitarian and author Henri Dunant founded the Red Cross (now the Red Cross and Red Crescent), an international agency that aids in the prevention and relief of human suffering. He was a cowinner—with French economist Frédéric Passy—of the first Nobel prize for peace in 1901. ( See also Passy, Frédéric ; Red Cross and Red Crescent ; Nobel prizes .)

Jean-Henri Dunant was born on May 8, 1828, in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1859, while on business in northern Italy, he happened to witness the battle of Solferino between the Austrian army and French and Italian forces and helped organize emergency aid services for the many thousands wounded in the battle. Dunant never forgot this experience. In a book he published in 1862, Un Souvenir de Solférino , he proposed forming voluntary relief societies around the world to help prevent and alleviate suffering in war and peacetime. He also proposed an international agreement specifying the treatment of those wounded in war. In 1864, the year he founded the Red Cross, the first national societies and the first Geneva Convention came into being.

Having gone bankrupt because he neglected his business affairs, Dunant left Geneva in 1867. Although he spent most of the rest of his life in poverty, he continued to promote interest in the treatment of prisoners of war , the abolition of slavery , international arbitration , disarmament , and the establishment of a Jewish homeland . He died on Oct. 30, 1910, in Heiden, Switzerland.

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• Henry Dunant - Facts

Henry Dunant

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Jean Henry Dunant The Nobel Peace Prize 1901

Born: 8 May 1828, Geneva, Switzerland

Died: 30 October 1910, Heiden, Switzerland

Residence at the time of the award: Switzerland

Prize motivation: “for his humanitarian efforts to help wounded soldiers and create international understanding”

Prize share: 1/2

Founder of the Red Cross

In 1859, a battle was raging at the town of Solferino in Northern Italy. There the Swiss businessman Henry Dunant saw thousands of Italian, French and Austrian soldiers killing and maiming each other. On his own initiative, he organized aid work. Later he wrote the book A Memory of Solferino, which contained a plan: all countries should form associations to help the sick and wounded on the battlefield - whichever side they belonged to.

The result was the establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863, and the adoption of the Geneva Convention in the following year. It laid down that all wounded soldiers in a land war should be treated as friends. Medical personnel would be protected by the red cross in a white field.

For Dunant personally, financial difficulties led to poverty and loss of social respect. But the organization he had created grew, and the underlying ideas won gradual acceptance. It pleased the ageing Dunant that the Norwegian Nobel Committee rewarded his life's work with the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Saviors in history: jean henry dunant.

These were the official congratulations that Jean Henry Dunant received in 1901, when the International Committee presented him with the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize for his integral role in the establishment of the Red Cross, as well as the inception of what would become known as the Geneva Conventions.

Arriving in Solferino on June 24, 1859, Dunant witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the century. In its aftermath, devastated by the sufferings of thousands of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield, he organized the locals, especially women and girls, to help injured soldiers from both sides. 

His scheme was destined to become the cornerstone of the organization that would soon be known all over the world as the Red Cross. 

Dunant’s devotion to his humanitarian activities and the neglect of his businesses led to the downfall of his company, scandals and eventually bankruptcy in 1868. 

Finally, he ended up living in the Swiss village of Heiden, where he was sheltered in Room 12 of the local hospice for the last 18 years of his life. 

Henry Dunant transformed his personal idea into an international organization, the Red Cross, which was to become a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. During its 153 years of activity, the International Committee of the Red Cross has remained the world's largest humanitarian network, helping people affected by war and calamity in approximately 150 countries and bringing to life the dearest dream of its founder Jean Henry Dunant, the man behind the Red Cross.

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SOCIAL ACTIVIST

Henry Dunant

1828 - 1910

Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 1828 – 30 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist, and co-founder of the Red Cross. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Dunant was born in Geneva to a devout Calvinist family and had business interests in French Algeria and Tunisia . Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Henry Dunant has received more than 1,149,335 page views. His biography is available in 91 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 88 in 2019) . Henry Dunant is the 8th most popular social activist , the 5th most popular biography from Switzerland (up from 7th in 2019) and the most popular Swiss Social Activist .

Henry Dunant is most famous for founding the Red Cross.

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Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Among social activists , Henry Dunant ranks 8 out of 840 .  Before him are Nelson Mandela , Mahatma Gandhi , Malcolm X , Eleanor Roosevelt , Jan Hus , and Rosa Luxemburg . After him are Mother Teresa , Helen Keller , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Martin Luther King Jr. , Jean-Paul Marat , and Claus von Stauffenberg .

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1828 , Henry Dunant ranks 3 .  Before him are Leo Tolstoy , and Jules Verne . After him are Henrik Ibsen , Saigō Takamori , Rani of Jhansi , Hippolyte Taine , Charbel Makhlouf , Randal Cremer , Dante Gabriel Rossetti , Nikolay Chernyshevsky , and Ferdinand Cohn .  Among people deceased in 1910 , Henry Dunant ranks 2 .  Before him is Leo Tolstoy . After him are Mark Twain , Florence Nightingale , Robert Koch , Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson , William James , Henri Rousseau , Edward VII , Nadar , Chulalongkorn , and O. Henry .

Others Born in 1828

Leo Tolstoy

Jules Verne

1828 - 1905

Henrik Ibsen

1828 - 1906

Saigō Takamori

MILITARY PERSONNEL

1828 - 1877

Rani of Jhansi

1828 - 1858

Hippolyte Taine

1828 - 1893

Charbel Makhlouf

RELIGIOUS FIGURE

1828 - 1898

Randal Cremer

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Nikolay Chernyshevsky

1828 - 1889

Ferdinand Cohn

Others deceased in 1910.

1835 - 1910

Florence Nightingale

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Robert Koch

1843 - 1910

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

1832 - 1910

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PSYCHOLOGIST

1842 - 1910

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PHOTOGRAPHER

Chulalongkorn

1853 - 1910

1862 - 1910

In Switzerland

Among people born in Switzerland , Henry Dunant ranks 5 out of 1,015 .  Before him are Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712) , Leonhard Euler (1707) , Le Corbusier (1887) , and Paracelsus (1493) . After him are Carl Jung (1875) , Jean Piaget (1896) , Ferdinand de Saussure (1857) , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746) , Sepp Blatter (1936) , Huldrych Zwingli (1484) , and Jean-Paul Marat (1743) .

Others born in Switzerland

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1712 - 1778

Leonhard Euler

MATHEMATICIAN

1707 - 1783

Le Corbusier

1887 - 1965

1493 - 1541

1875 - 1961

Jean Piaget

1896 - 1980

Ferdinand de Saussure

1857 - 1913

Sepp Blatter

BUSINESSPERSON

1936 - Present

Huldrych Zwingli

1484 - 1531

Among SOCIAL ACTIVISTS In Switzerland

Among social activists born in Switzerland , Henry Dunant ranks 1 .  After him are Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746) , Jean-Paul Marat (1743) , Élie Ducommun (1833) , Jean Ziegler (1934) , Gustave Moynier (1826) , Felix Manz (1498) , Hector Hodler (1887) , and Bruno Manser (1954) .

Swiss born Social Activists

Élie Ducommun

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1498 - 1527

Hector Hodler

1887 - 1920

Bruno Manser

1954 - 2005

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Dunant, Jean Henri

Dunant, Jean Henri zhäN äNrēˈ dünäNˈ [ key ] , 1828–1910, Swiss philanthropist and founder of the International Red Cross, b. Geneva. In 1862 appeared his Un souvenir de Solférino (tr. The Origins of the Red Cross, 1911), a description of the sufferings of the wounded at the battle of Solferino and a plea for organizations to care for the war wounded. There was an immediate response. Gustave Moynier and the Société genevoise d'Utilité publique took up the cause. An international conference in 1863 led to the conference of 1864 that adopted the Geneva Convention and established the Red Cross. Dunant aided other causes and wrote several books. He shared with Frédéric Passy the first Nobel Peace Prize (1901).

See J. Rich, Jean Henri Dunant, Founder of the International Red Cross (1956); V. K. Libby, Henry Dunant: Prophet of Peace (1964); H. N. Pandit, The Red Cross and Henry Dunant (1969).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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160 years on the side of humanity: A commitment that has never waned

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The ideas and actions that led to the creation of the largest humanitarian movement in the world are still as startlingly modern and pertinent as ever. The pictures presented here pay homage to the millions of people who are working hard still today to put into practice the ideas of one man who came face to face with the horrors of war 160 years ago.

On 24 June 1859, the future founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Henry Dunant, got the shock of his life. He arrived in Solferino, a town in northern Italy, to discover the French and Austrian armies had just fought one of the bloodiest battles on European soil since the Battle of Waterloo . In the ditches, fields and valleys around the town, 40,000 soldiers lay wounded or dead, abandoned to their fate.

Dunant was revolted by what he saw. What he was about to do would change the course of humanitarianism profoundly. Still today, 160 years on, his ideas remain as powerful as ever, giving millions of men and women around the world the means to prevent and alleviate human suffering.

They celebrate what makes them feel like a family: a common understanding of humanity and the will to alleviate suffering. During a torch-lit procession of nine kilometers, they follow the footsteps of those who brought injured soldiers from the battlefield to the first medical outpost in the nearby village of Castiglione. The battle took place on 24 June 1859. More than 160 years later, this humanitarian drive lives within millions of people.

Dunant was a Genevan entrepreneur and had gone to Solferino purely for business reasons. But faced with the horrors of the battlefield, he began organizing first aid for the wounded with the help of the local population. He dressed wounds, gave water to thirsty soldiers, paid for sheets and food out of his own pocket and recorded the last words of the dying so they could be sent to their families. He also asked the victorious French forces to release Austrian surgeons they had captured so they could treat wounded soldiers from both sides. This humanitarian spirit was out of the ordinary: at the time armies had more veterinarians in their ranks than surgeons. A horse was worth more than a soldier. And an army's medics were as much of a military target as any other.

Clothing, food, tobacco, glasses or medicine have always been items of great value for the prisoners. With the support of the Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies, the ICRC packaged these items and delivered millions of parcels to detention camps on all sides as soon as World War I. But for prisoners of war, informing their families that they are still alive, and sharing news with them during their captivity is what matters most. The ICRC organized this massive exchange of letters from as early as 1870 (French-Prussian war).

When Dunant got back to his hometown of Geneva, he began writing A Memory of Solferino , which was published in 1862. In his book, he set out two major ideas:

• Relief committees should be formed to train volunteers in times of peace so that they could treat the wounded in times of war. These committees swiftly became the first National Red Cross Societies.
• An international agreement should recognize these committees and grant them protection on the battlefield. The original Geneva Convention, adopted in 1864, made these ideas reality and constitutes the foundation of modern-day international humanitarian law .

Today, 160 years on, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement brings together 192 National Societies, all united by the desire to alleviate human suffering and provide assistance to the most vulnerable people, wherever they are. Our neutrality enables us to cross front lines. Moreover, a person's political opinions, class, nationality, gender, beliefs and so on never determine who receives aid. Only one thing matters: who is in need? Our humanitarian action is based on the Movement's well-known Fundamental Principles .

Tomorrow 17 February marks 160 years of work to bring relief to millions of people adversely affected by armed conflict. Since 1863, technological advances have changed warfare, but the suffering of civilians remains the same. https://t.co/8DwyEPpTLG — ICRC (@ICRC) February 16, 2023

The Nigeria–Biafra operation was the largest the ICRC had carried out since 1945. It pushed the organization to professionalize its activities, streamline its decision-making processes and think bigger. But after one of its planes was shot down, the ICRC was forced to end the airlift. Some time after the end of this operation, a handful of ICRC delegates who disagreed with the organization neutral stance in the conflict created Médecins Sans Frontières, opening a new chapter in modern humanitarian history.

We defend the ideals of international humanitarian law and continue the work began at Solferino so that:

• individuals separated by armed conflict can get back in touch with their loved ones
• civilians are not treated as targets in armed conflicts
• prisoners of war and other detainees are treated humanely
• people who have lost a limb can receive an orthosis or prosthesis
• states stop developing weapons that cannot uphold the distinction between civilians and soldiers
• people who suffer the effects of armed violence can live with dignity
• and much, much more.

When Henry Dunant and four other Genevan citizens came together on 17 February 1863 to create the ICRC , did they think one day that this organization would be working in places as disparate as Yemen and Somalia, Mali and Colombia, Ukraine and Syria? Did they know that millions of men and women, working within a powerful movement , would still be putting their principles into practice 160 years later? There is no lack of modern-day Solferinos or frightening challenges for us to face in our time. And though human pain is the same as it ever was, our humanitarian operations have grown ever more complex under planet-wide pressures, such as climate change, hate speech, food insecurity, the use of mercenaries, and the development of increasingly deadly technologies.

In November 2022, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said , "We will do our work to promote IHL, to assist states with their obligations to prevent violations, and to protect civilian and military victims of armed conflicts when they will arise." But President Spoljaric appealed to states to maintain peace, because, as she said, if "war broke out along the fault lines we are seeing today, the ramifications and humanitarian consequences would be beyond overwhelming. And there is nothing that IHL [international humanitarian law], the ICRC or the whole of the world's humanitarian movement could do to make it bearable.

Relatives of the more than 21,000 people who went missing during the violence that ravaged Peru during the 1980's and 1990's are still looking for their loved ones. Worldwide, families of missing might visit government offices and institutions, scour prisons, battlefields, hospitals and morgues. They scrutinize the bodies of the dead looking for familiar traits, or personal belongings from recovered human remains. Many continue searching until they find answers. Calling off the search before then would be like abandoning the missing person for good.

But the ordeal of the population in the region is not new and dates back 1983 when civil war broke out. To respond to the needs, the ICRC ran during two decades the Lokichokio hospital in northern Kenya, at one point the largest field medical structure in the world with a peak capacity of 700 beds. It treated tens of thousands of Sudanese patients, approximately 95% of whom arrived at the hospital by air. The ICRC handed over the structure to the Kenyan authorities in May 2006. The medical staff there had cared for nearly 38,000 patients and performed over 60,000 surgical operations over 19 years. This ICRC action may very well have been the largest and longest non-military cross-border air evacuation of casualties in history.

The breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s triggered bitter ethnic fights between population groups scattered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and, some years later, Kosovo. The massive disrespect for basic rules of war meant that the civilian population on all sides paid a heavy price, at the very heart of Europe. For years, the international community was unable to prevent forced deportations and disappearances, cruel treatment and other blatant crimes. It was a challenging time for the people, as well as the humanitarian organizations that had a limited impact in such a polarized environment.

Being a neutral intermediary enables civilians to cross frontlines or to be supplied across frontlines with the goods needed for their survival. It helps exchange prisoners, evacuate trapped civilians, and bring news to separated loved ones... In the course of our history, we've been asked to take sides. But the only side we take is the side of humanity. An increasingly polarized world is making our approach if anything more necessary than ever.

It is those who carry weapons who can kill – and be killed. It is also they who can facilitate or hinder humanitarian action. Since the beginning of its presence on battlefields, the ICRC maintains a dialogue with all weapon bearers, State and non-State, as part of our mandate to protect and assist people affected by war and other forms of violence. Keeping communication channels open helps us explain our neutrality, access people in need through frontlines and obtain security guarantees for our staff. It is a cornerstone of our work as a neutral and impartial humanitarian actor.

It is estimated that 90% of the population is living under the poverty line, and more than 14 million people, out of 18 million, are still in need of humanitarian assistance. The extensive destruction and gradual deterioration of vital infrastructure – water, electricity and health care – are stretching the population's ability to cope. The conflict in Syria started in 2011. The Arab Spring triggered a wave of conflicts - and humanitarian needs - in countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya.

Infrastructures essential to the survival of the civilian population are protected under international humanitarian law. Since the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the ICRC has regularly supported local authorities on all sides to ensure that power and water stations are up and running.

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Jean Henri Dunant: father of the Red Cross and Nobel laureate

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• 1 Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of Biomedical Sciences, London SE1 1UL.
• PMID: 21085078
• DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2010.71.10.78950

Today, the International Red Cross is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of its founder, Jean Henri Dunant. The details of his life and achievement are both incredible and sad.

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Dunant, Jean-Henri (Henry)

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• Georg von Schnurbein 4  

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Basic Biographical Information

Born 1828 in Geneva (Switzerland) into a well-situated family, Henry Dunant became an unsuccessful businessman and – led by his affection for the situation of the needy – the founder of several organizations, amongst the most important is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dunant started working at a bank in 1849. After working for a Swiss mill company in Sétif/Algeria, he founded his own mill company in Algeria in 1858 (Société financière et industrielle des Moulins des Mons-Djémila). In 1867, the liquidation of his company ends in a scandal and he is forced to leave the ICRC. Impoverished, he lived in Heiden (Switzerland) until a journalist rediscovered him in 1895. Afterwards he received several awards and in 1901 the first ever Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passey. He died in 1910 in Heiden.

Major Accomplishments/Contributions

Although Dunant was raised in a strong Calvinist family closely connected to revivalism, it was...

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References/Further Readings

Boissier, P. (1985). History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume I: From Solferino to Tsushima . Geneva: Henry Dunant Institute.

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Dunant, H. (1986). A memory of Solferino . Geneva: ICRC.

Moorehead, C. (1998). Dunant’s dream: War, Switzerland and the history of the Red Cross . London: HarperCollins.

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Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS), Universitaet Basel, Rheinsprung, Basel, Switzerland

Georg von Schnurbein

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University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Helmut K. Anheier

Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany

George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

Stefan Toepler

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Schnurbein, G.v. (2010). Dunant, Jean-Henri (Henry). In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_197

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