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Henry Dunant: Founder of the Red Cross, the Relief Organization Dedicated to Helping Suffering People All over the World
Describes how a young Swiss businessman, accidentally viewing the bloody Battle of Solferino in 1859, was shocked at the lack of care given the wounded and went on to found the International Red Cross.
68 pages, Library Binding
First published June 1, 1989
7 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Gray
73 books148 followersCharlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of eight acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she began her writing career in England as a magazine editor and newspaper columnist. After coming to Canada in 1979, she worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to biography and popular history.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
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March 30, 2023
Henry Dunant nació en Suiza el 8 de mayo de 1828, creció en una familia muy respetable que realizaba actividades de bien social, a los 18 años dedicó su tiempo libre a visitar a los moribundos. Por motivo de negocios en 1859, fue en busca de Napoleón III de Francia, pero al llegar comenzó la batalla de Solferino, la cual resultó ser la más sangrienta del siglo XIX en donde 40.000 hombres fueron o muertos en una carnicería que duró 16 horas.
A pesar de la escena tan aterradora, Dunant empezó a asistir a los heridos en Castiglione, un pueblo cercano, consiguiendo agua y vendajes, limpiaba heridas y brindando consuelo. Organizó un equipo de mujeres voluntarias para que atendieran a todos sin importar el uniforme. Años más tarde escribiría un libro en donde narra la matanza y como ayudó con el sufrimiento humano.
“Cuántas lágrimas silenciosas se derramaron en ese penoso atardecer, cuando se prescindía de todo falso amor propio, de todo respeto humano.”
El libro se llama: Recuerdo de Solferino. La reacción que provocó fue impresionante, el libro fue la chispa que encendió el entusiasmo y los esfuerzos para la fundación de la Cruz Roja. El sueño de Dunant fue bien recibido por personas influyentes, lo que hizo posible la materialización de la idea.
Hace más 125 años el Movimiento de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja ha ampliado su objetivo inicial con operaciones de socorro en desastres naturales y en servicios de primeros auxilios, constituyendo el mayor movimiento humanitario, estando presente en más de 150 países.
A pesar de la escena tan aterradora, Dunant empezó a asistir a los heridos en Castiglione, un pueblo cercano, consiguiendo agua y vendajes, limpiaba heridas y brindando consuelo. Organizó un equipo de mujeres voluntarias para que atendieran a todos sin importar el uniforme. Años más tarde escribiría un libro en donde narra la matanza y como ayudó con el sufrimiento humano.
“Cuántas lágrimas silenciosas se derramaron en ese penoso atardecer, cuando se prescindía de todo falso amor propio, de todo respeto humano.”
El libro se llama: Recuerdo de Solferino. La reacción que provocó fue impresionante, el libro fue la chispa que encendió el entusiasmo y los esfuerzos para la fundación de la Cruz Roja. El sueño de Dunant fue bien recibido por personas influyentes, lo que hizo posible la materialización de la idea.
Hace más 125 años el Movimiento de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja ha ampliado su objetivo inicial con operaciones de socorro en desastres naturales y en servicios de primeros auxilios, constituyendo el mayor movimiento humanitario, estando presente en más de 150 países.
Displaying 1 of 1 review