Jean-Henri Dunant and the Red Cross

The Red Cross is an admirable global organization founded by an admirable individual, Jean-Henri Dunant, whose life John Gehl summarizes here:

"Swiss humanitarian Jean-Henri Dunant (1828-1910) founded the Red Cross in 1864, and in 1901 shared the first Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of his Red Cross work, and for his efforts on behalf of disarmament and international arbitration. Dunant was born into a Geneva family that was religious, humanitarian, and civic-minded. In his early years he participated in religious, full-time work as a representative of the Young Men's Christian Association, traveling in France, Belgium, and Holland. At age twenty-six, he entered the business world as a representative of the Compagnie Genevoise des Colonies de Setif in North Africa and Sicily. In 1858 he published his first book, An Account of the Regency in Tunis, which contained his travel observations and a remarkable chapter (later published separately) on slavery among the Mohammedans and in the United States of America.

Having personally witnessed the 1859 Battle of Solferino, which resulted in nearly 40,000 casualties, he was so disturbed by the lack of care for the wounded that he acted to organize emergency aid services for the Austrian and French wounded. In 1862 Dunant published "Un Souvenir de Solferino", an appeal for the formation of volunteer groups devoted to the relief of suffering caused by war and natural disasters. He proposed that all countries form 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.

Dunant was also instrumental in the formation of the first Geneva Convention, in which twelve nations signed an international treaty guaranteeing neutrality to sanitary personnel, to expedite supplies for their use, and to adopt a special identifying emblem, a red cross on a field of white. Sadly, he became so preoccupied with his humanitarian work that he neglected his business affairs and went bankrupt in 1867.

After his business failed, he left Geneva and stayed briefly in various places, finally settling down to a life of poverty in the small Swiss village of Heiden. In 1890 a village teacher named Wilhelm Sonderegger found him and informed the world that Dunant was alive, but quite ill. He was moved in 1892 to the hospice at Heiden, where, in Room 12, by his own choice he spent the remaining eighteen years of his life.

As the world began to recall his humanitarian achievements, he became the belated recipient of suitable honors, prizes and monetary awards. Upon his death, in accordance with his wishes, there was no funeral ceremony. He had not spent any of his prize monies, and true to his selfless spirit, he bequeathed legacies to those who had cared for him in the hospice, endowed a "free bed" for the sick poor, and left the remainder to philanthropic enterprises in Norway and Switzerland.