Henri Dunant

Who is Henri Dunant?

Jean-Henri Dunant was a Swiss businessman and social activist born in Geneva. In 1859 he witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in northern Italy, where tens of thousands of soldiers lay wounded without adequate care. Deeply shaken, he organised local relief and later wrote 'A Memory of Solferino' (1862), in which he proposed the creation of neutral, trained volunteer relief societies and an international agreement to protect the wounded. His ideas led directly to the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 and to the first Geneva Convention of 1864. Despite his humanitarian achievements, Dunant suffered business failure and bankruptcy, living in poverty and obscurity for years. He was rediscovered late in life and, in 1901, was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Frédéric Passy.

Sources: Henri Dunant, 'A Memory of Solferino' (Un souvenir de Solférino), 1862 · The Nobel Foundation, Nobel Peace Prize 1901 official records