Henry Dunant

Also known as Jean Henri Dunant, Jean Henry Dunant, J. Henry Dunant, Errikos D̲ynan, Anrī Dyunan, Jean-Henri Dunant, Sodabeh Dunant, Henri Dunant

Swiss businessman and co-founder of the Red Cross (1828-1910)

AI overview

Henry Dunant was a Swiss businessman who co-founded the Red Cross, an organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance during conflicts and disasters. He matters because his work established one of the world's most important organizations for helping people in crisis, regardless of which side of a conflict they're on.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize1901
“for his humanitarian efforts to help wounded soldiers and create international understanding”
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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Henry
Gender: male
Citizenship: France
Place of birth: Switzerland
Place of death: Heiden
Occupation: merchant
Educated at: Collège Calvin
Languages spoken: French
Award: Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Field of work: aid agency
Image: Henry Dunant-young.jpg
Residence: Stuttgart

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Commons category: Henri Dunant
date of birth: 1828-05-08
date of death: 1910-10-30
topic's main category: Category:Henry Dunant
Commons gallery: Henri Dunant
Commons Creator page: Henri Dunant
writing language: French
on focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject Human rights
contributed to creative work: Popular Science
date of burial or cremation: 1910-11-02
birth name: Jean-Henri Dunant
municipal affiliation of a Swiss national: Geneva

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Encyclopedic overview

Henry Dunant ( French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi dynɑ̃]; born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 1828 – 30 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist, and co-founder of the Red Cross. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

Dunant was born in Geneva to a devout Calvinist family and had business interests in French Algeria and Tunisia. In 1859, while on his way to petition Napoleon III, he witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in northern Italy. Horrified by the suffering of the wounded and the lack of care they received, Dunant took the initiative to organize the local population in providing aid for the soldiers. After returning to Geneva, he recorded his experiences in the book A Memory of Solferino, in which he advocated the formation of an organization that would provide relief for the wounded without discrimination in times of war. In February 1863, Dunant was a member of a five-person committee that sought to put his plan into action, which in effect founded the organization that would become the International Committee of the Red Cross. A year later, he took part in a diplomatic conference organized by the Swiss government that led to the signing of the First Geneva Convention.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Henry Dunant” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.