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Jean Henri Dunant (May 8, 1828 - October 30, 1910) (often
called Henry Dunant or Henri Dunant) was a Swiss businessman
and humanitarian who founded the Red Cross movement. He was
awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 (with Fr ric Passy).
A man deeply religious in the Calvinist tradition
and committed to the principle of "Love thy neighbor,"
Dunant crisscrossed Europe, lecturing on the evils of slavery.
While in Italy in 1859, he visited the site of the Battle
of Solferino, where he was stunned by the many thousands of
wounded soldiers left on the battlefield to die, without receiving
even the most basic medical attention that might have saved
them. Upon his return to Geneva he wrote Souvenir of Solferino,
a memoir of his experiences in Italy, in which he advocated
the establishment of an international network of volunteer
relief agencies. The book won the attention of Switzerland's
Federal Council and in 1863 that country sponsored an international
conference to discuss ways to implement Dunant's ideas as
he expressed them in the Nine Articles. Sixteen countries
attended and by 1864 twelve ratified the document, which became
the basis for the International Committee of the Red Cross
and the first Geneva Convention.
In the following years, Dunant wrote prolifically
on disarmament and the establishment of an international court
to arbitrate conflicts between countries.
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