Did you know Henry Dunant.

Dunant as an old man
Born Jean Henri Dunant
May 8, 1828
Geneva, Switzerland
Died October 30, 1910 (age 82)
Heiden, Switzerland
Citizenship Switzerland, France.
Employment social activist, businessman, author
Known as founder of the Red Cross
Religion Calvinism (in the early years of his life)
nonreligious (later)
Parents Jean-Jacques Dunant
Antoinette Dunant-Colladon
Nobel Peace Prize (1901)
Jean Henri Dunant (born May 8, 1828 - died October 30, 1910 at the age of 82 years), which is also known by the name of Henry Dunant, was a Swiss businessman and social activist. When traveling for business in 1859, he witnessed the effects of the Battle of Solferino, a location which today is part of Italy. Memories and experiences that he wrote in a book entitled A Memory of Solferino (Memories of Solferino), which inspired the formation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863. The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant's ideas. In 1901, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize, together with Frédéric Passy.

Youth and education Dunant.

Dunant was born in Geneva, Switzerland, the first son of businessman Jean-Jacques Dunant and his wife Antoinette Dunant-Colladon. His family are adherents mashab Calvin ('' Calvinist '') are obedient and have a significant influence on society Geneva. Both parents stressed the importance of the value of social activities. His father was active helping orphans and inmates serving parole, while her social activities to help the sick and the poor.

Dunant grew during the religious awakening known as the Réveil. At the age of 18, he joined the Association of Charity Geneva (Geneva Society for Alms Giving). In the following year, with his friends, he founded the association called "Thursday Association", a group of young people without formal membership bonds to meet regularly to study the Bible and help the poor. He spent much of his free time to visit the prison and social activities. On November 30, 1852, Dunant founded the YMCA branch in Geneva. Three years later, he participated in the Paris meeting aimed at forming a YMCA became an international organization.

In 1849, when aged 21, Dunant was forced to leave the Calvin College (Collège Calvin) because of poor academic achievement. He then became an apprentice in the foreign exchange market called Lullin et Sautter. After his apprenticeship finished with good achievement, he was appointed as an employee of the bank.

Algeria.

In 1853, Dunant visited Algeria, Tunisia, and Sicily as assigned by companies that serve "colonies Setif", ie a company called Compagnie genevoise de Colonies de Sétif. Despite the lack of experience, Dunant successfully complete the assignment satisfactorily. Inspired by the travel experience, Dunant for the first time to write a book, which he titled Notice sur la Régence de Tunis (Story about Regensi in Tunisia). This book was published in 1858.

In 1856, Dunant founded the company that operates in the overseas colonies and, after obtaining land concessions from Algeria when it was under French occupation, he also founded the plantation and trading company called Société Financière corn et industrielle des Moulins des Mons -Djémila (Corporate Finance and Industry Grinding Mons-Djémila). However, land and water rights promised not being clearly defined, while the colonial authorities in Algeria also be less cooperative. Therefore, Dunant decided to ask for help directly to the Emperor Napoleon III of France, which when it was in Lombardi with his troops. France was fighting on the side of Piedmont-Sardinia against Austria, which when it occupied much of the region today called Italy. Napoleon's headquarters is located in the small town of Solferino. Dunant wrote a book whose content is full of flattery and praise for Napoleon III for he had given to the emperor. Then he traveled to Solferino to meet personally with Napoleon III.

Battle of Solferino.

Dunant arrived in Solferino on the evening of June 24, 1859, just as the battle between the two sides had just finished. About 38 thousand soldiers lying on the battlefield in a state of wounded, dying, or dead, and there had been no significant effort made to provide care to them. In a state of shocked at the sight, Dunant took the initiative to mobilize the local civilian population, especially women, to provide aid to the wounded and sick soldiers. Because the supply of equipment and medicines needed inadequate, Dunant himself arranged the purchase of the required material and helped set up a makeshift hospital. He managed to convince local residents to serve the injured regardless of which side they fought, in accordance with the slogan "Tutti fratelli" (We are all brothers) are created by women from the town of Castiglione delle Stiviere not far from that place. He also managed to persuade the French to liberate doctors that their captive Austria.

Red Cross.

Upon his return to Geneva in early July, Dunant decided to write a book about his experience, which he later gave the title Un Souvenir de Solferino (Memories of Solferino). This book was published in 1862 by the number of 1,600 copies, printed on Dunant's own expense. In this book, Dunant depicts the battle that happens, the various costs of the fighting, and the chaotic circumstances caused. He also put forward the idea of the need to establish a neutral organization to provide care to wounded soldiers. This book he shared with many political and military leaders in Europe.

Dunant also embark on a journey across Europe to promote his ideas. The book received a very positive response. President of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare (Geneva Association for Public Welfare), which is a lawyer named Gustave Moynier, lift this book with suggestions Dunant in it as a topic of its meeting on February 9, 1863. The members of these organizations assess posals Dunant's proposal and provide a positive assessment. They then formed a committee consisting of five people to explore further the possibility of realizing the ideas Dunant, and Dunant was appointed as a member of this committee. These four other members of this committee is to Gustave Moynier, the Swiss army general named Henri Dufour, and two doctors were respectively named Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir. The Committee held its first meeting on February 17, 1863, which is now regarded as the date of the founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

From the beginning, Moynier and Dunant disagree and wrangled over the vision and plan their own, and their disagreement was increasingly large. Dunant Moynier considered the idea of the need for protection set neutrality for the caregiver as difficult to accept the idea that sense as well as advising Dunant to not insist impose the concept. However, Dunant continued to advocate the establishment in every trip and in every conversation with officials of high-level political and military. It's getting mempersengit personal conflict between Moynier, who wears a pragmatic approach to the project, and Dunant, which is a visionary idealist among the five members of the Committee. In the end, Moynier tried to attack and thwart Dunant when Dunant run for the position of chairman of the Committee.

In October 1863, 14 countries participated in the meeting organized by the Committee in Geneva to discuss the improvement of care for wounded soldiers. However, Dunant himself only became head of protocol at the meeting as a result of efforts to minimize his role Moynier. A year later, on August 22, 1864, a diplomatic conference organized by the Swiss Parliament led to the signing of the First Geneva Convention by 12 countries. For this conference was, Dunant only served as a regulator of accommodation for the participants.

Forgotten past.

Business Dunant in Algeria declined, partly because of his devotion to the ideals of humanistic own. In April 1867, the bankruptcy of the financial firm Crédit Genevois led to a scandal involving Dunant. He was forced to declare bankruptcy and convicted by the Geneva Trade Court on August 17, 1868 on deceptive practices in the bankruptcy case. His family and many of his friends are very affected by Crédit Genevois bankrutnya because they invested heavily in this company. Society in Geneva, a city with a deep-rooted tradition Calvin, became upset and excited that emerged calls for Dunant resigned from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

On August 25, 1868, he resigned from his post as Secretary of the Committee and, on September 8, he is completely removed from the Committee. Moynier, who became President of the Committee since 1864, played a major role in getting rid of the Committee Dunant.

In February 1868, Dunant's mother died. At the end of that year, Dunant was also expelled from the YMCA. In March 1867, he left his hometown, Geneva, and never go back there again. In the following years, Moynier apparently trying to use his influence to ensure that Dunant not to receive help or support from his friends. For example, the gold medal prize Sciences Morales at the Paris World Fair not be given to Dunant as planned, but given to Moynier, Dufour, and Dunant together so that all the prize money is rightfully Committee. Napoleon III's bid to take over half of Dunant's debt obligations to the terms of friends Dunant guarantee repayment of the other half was also thwarted by Moynier effort.

Dunant moved to Paris and lived there in a state of lack. However, he continues to embody the idea and plan of humanity. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), he founded the Joint Humanitarian Aid Association ('' Allgemeine Fürsorgegesellschaft '') and, shortly afterwards, he founded the Joint Alliance for Order and Civilization ('' Allianz für Allgemeine und Ordnung Zivilisation ''). Dunant argue about the need for the disarmament talks and the need to set up an international court to mediate international conflicts. Later, he sought the formation of the library world, an idea which has echoes in various projects in the future, among other UNESCO.

In the never-ending effort to advocate and realize ideas, Dunant increasingly ignoring his personal financial situation so that he is getting in debt and shunned by his acquaintances. Although appointed as an honorary member of the Red Cross Society of Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Prussia, and Spain, he was almost forgotten in the course of official Red Cross Movement, even when the movement is growing rapidly to other countries. Dunant lived in poverty and move where between 1874-1886, including Stuttgart, Rome, Korfu, Basel, and Karlsruhe. In Stuttgart, Dunant met students at the University Tübingan (Tübingen University) named Rudolf Müller and then close friends with him. In 1881, together with a number of friends from Stuttgart, Dunant for the first time go to Heiden, a resort village in Switzerland. In 1887, while living in London, he began receiving monthly financial assistance from a number of distant relatives. It allows him to live in a more secure financial condition. Dunant moved to Heiden in July 1887 and stayed in the village for the rest of his life. Since April 30 1892, he was living in hospitals and nursing homes, led by Dr. Hermann Altherr.

In Heiden, he met a young teacher named Wilhelm Sonderegger and his wife Susanna. They encouraged him to record his life experiences. Sonderegger's wife founded the Red Cross branch in Heiden and, in 1890, Dunant became honorary president of the branch. With the Sonderegger, Dunant hoped to promote his ideas further, including publishing a new edition of his book. However, their friendship later became strained by Dunant catapult unwarranted accusations that Sonderegger, along with Moynier in Geneva, conspire against it. Sonderegger died in 1904, at the age of just reached 42 years. Despite their strained relationship, Dunant was deeply moved by the death Sonderegger was unexpected. Admiration Wilhelm and Susanna Sonderegger on Dunant, who kept them feel even though Dunant hurl accusations, passed on to their children. In 1935, their son, namely René, published a collection of letters written to his father Dunant.

Return the public mind.

In September, 1895, Georg Baumberger, the chief editor of Die Ostschweiz, a newspaper published in St. Gall, wrote an article about the founder of the Red Cross, who had met and talked with him when they were strolling in Heiden a month earlier. The article entitled "Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross" (Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross) and appeared in a magazine published by the German pictorial, Über Land und Meer. With this article immediately reproduced in various other media across Europe. The article received rave reviews so Dunant back attention and public support. He then received the Prize Binet-Fendt Switzerland and a letter of Pope Leo XIII. Thanks to the assistance of the Russian czar's widow, Maria Feodorovna namely, and other donations from various parties, Dunant's financial situation has greatly improved.

In 1897, Rudolf Müller, who was already working as a teacher in Stuttgart, wrote a book about the origins of the Red Cross. The contents of this book changed the official history of the Red Cross by emphasizing the role Dunant. This book also includes the text "Memories of Solferino." Dunant began Bertha von Suttner corresponded with and write a lot of articles and other writings. He was especially active in writing about women's rights. In 1897, Dunant facilitated the establishment of the "Green Cross" (Green Cross), an organization of women's short-lived and only active in Brussels.

Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1901, Dunant received the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded the first ever, that for his role in founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiate the process of formation of the Geneva Convention. Norwegian military physician Hans Daae, who had received a copy of Müller's writing a book, advocated Dunant case to the Nobel Committee. The prize is awarded to a joint gift Dunant and Frédéric Passy, a French peace activist who founded the Peace League and active with Dunant in the Alliance for Order and Civilization (Alliance for Order and Civilization). Official congratulations Dunant finally received from the International Committee of the Red Cross represents the rehabilitation of Dunant:

"Nothing is more worthy to receive this honor, because it is you who forty years ago founded the international organization of humanitarian aid to the wounded on the battlefield. Without you, the Red Cross, which is the supreme humanitarian achievement of the nineteenth century, would never have been attempted. "

Moynier and the International Committee of the Red Cross as a whole was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Although Dunant gained widespread support among the selection process, he remains a controversial candidate. Some argue that the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions makes war more attractive and tempting to alleviate some of the suffering caused by war. Therefore, Müller in his letter to the Nobel Committee expressed the opinion that the prize should be divided between Dunant and Passy, who had become the leading candidate to be the sole recipient of the prize in the debate that occurred during the selection process. Müller also suggested that if the Dunant deemed worthy to receive the Nobel Prize, the prize needs to be given to him in view of his advanced age and health condition has deteriorated.

Nobel Committee decision to split the prize between Passy, a man of peace, and Dunant, a humanitarian, a precedent for the requirements regarding the selection of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient a significant impact on subsequent years. One part in Nobel's will stated that the peace prize to be given to those who seek to reduce or eliminate the troops and equipment (standing armies) or attempt to direct SCARA promote peace conference. This is what makes Passy naturally selected to be recipients of the prize thanks to his efforts in the field of peace. Awarding the Nobel Prize for efforts in the humanitarian field alone would be a very striking, and it is considered by some parties as overly broad interpretation on Nobel's will. However, the other part in Nobel's will assign prizes for the best performers in improving "human brotherhood" (the brotherhood of people). It could be interpreted more generally as a message that humanitarian efforts as done by Dunant was also linked to peace efforts. Nobel Peace Prize in subsequent years its many were put into one of two categories for the first time established by the 1901 decision of the Nobel Committee.

Hans Daae managed to put the prize money to be part Dunant, amounting to 104,000 Swiss francs, in a bank in Norway and prevent the money accessible to creditors Dunant. Dunant himself never wore the slightest of money in his life.

Death and legacy.

Among several other awards received by Dunant in subsequent years was an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Heidelberg, which he received in 1903. Dunant lived in a nursing home in Heiden until his death. In the last years of his life, he suffered from depression and fear (paranoia) that he keeps sought by creditors and Moynier. Dunant even sometimes urged the nursing home cook to taste first food rations before him so that he is protected from the possibility of being poisoned. Though he still believes Christians, Dunant in the last years of his life refused and attacked Calvinism and organized religion (organized religion) in general.

According to the care of her interpreter, the last action performed in his life Dunant was sent a copy of a book written by Müller to the queen of Italy accompanied by a letter of introduction from Dunant himself. Dunant died on October 30, 1910, and his last words are "Where the disappearance of humanity?" Dunant died just two months after his nemesis, Moynier. Although the ICRC congratulated on giving the Nobel Prize Dunant, the two rivals never reconciled. 

As he wishes, Dunant was buried without ceremony in the Sihlfeld Cemetery in Zurich. In his will, he donated money to provide a "free bed" in a nursing home in Heiden, which should always be available for the region's poor. He also gave some money, through a notary deed, to his friends and to charitable organizations in Norway and Switzerland. The rest of the money he gave to the creditors so that most of the debt is paid off. Dunant's inability to fully repay its debts become a big burden to him until the day of his death.

Birthday, May 8, is celebrated as the Day of the Red Cross and Red Crescent World ('' World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day ''). Heiden nursing home that used to contain it is now a museum of Henry Dunant. In Geneva and other cities there are a lot of roads, courts, and schools are named after him. Henry Dunant Medal, which is awarded every two years by the Standing Committee of the Red Cross Movement and the International Red Cross, the highest award bestowed by the Movement. Thank you for reading this article. Written and posted by Bambang Sunarno. sunarnobambang86@gmail.com

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DatePublished: December 10, 2014 at 18:30

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