Chapter Un souvenir de Solferino

Overview & Synopsis

The Swiss patrician son Henry Dunant (Geneva 1828-Heiden 1910) was a deeply religious man, raised with the duty to care for others, without distinction, instilled in him from a young age. He approached this in his own unique way throughout his life. In addition to being an organizer and diplomat, he was also naïve, an internationalist, and a skilled writer. He displayed great perseverance and a certain fanaticism. When he witnessed the bloody Battle of Solferino in 1859, he proved to be the right man in the right place at the right time; the combination of his aforementioned traits led him both into trouble at times and enabled him to write a brilliant and unique book about the horrors of war he encountered, aiming to improve the care of wounded soldiers in wartime. He financed the printing of this work himself and personally covered the distribution of a large number of copies. The book became an international success, and Dunant managed to realize his ideal. Today, he is recognized as the spiritual father and founder of the universal or international Red Cross.