Battle of solferino henry dunant

Dunants dream was to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without discrimination. On 24 june, 1859, swiss businessman henry dunant stumbled upon the horrific scenes of the battle of solferino. The battle of solferino 24 june 1859 was the decisive episode in the struggle for italian unification. Nearly 160 years ago, frenchmen and sardinians fought against the young austrian emperor franz josef, in order to drive the. The images of wounded soldiers remained entrenched in his memory. Despite being born to wealth, he died in poverty partially due to his dedication to charitable work. The bloodshed also inspired henri dunant to lead the movement to establish. The battle of solferino led dunant to push for the creation of a neutral and impartial organization to. Dunant arrived in solferino on the evening of 24 june 1859, on.

For one year dunant is busy writing the book a memory of solferino 1862 in november an edition of 1,600 books of a memory of solferino is published, paid by henri dunant. The battle of solferino, 1859 henry dunant museum heiden. The battle led the swiss jeanhenri dunant to write his book, a memory of. Battle of solferino, june 24, 1859, last engagement of the second war of italian. Events and milestones in dunants life henry dunant. The book gives both an epic account of the battle and a testimony of the horrors of war, and still has an impact even 150 years later. Henry dunant the horrors witnessed by dunant after the battle of solferino on june 24 1859 and his humanitarian appeal are the origins of the red cross movment. Considered by many as the father of modern humanitarianism, henry dunant was also arguably the first embedded war reporter and citizen. After the battle, the austrian emperor refrained from further direct command of the army.

Solferino and the international committee of the red cross icrc. Who better than henry dunant to shake the reader with a gripping account of the suffering of the thousands of wounded soldiers left untended after the battle of. In the church of castiglione, the chiesa maggiore, henry dunant, helped by local women, cared for the wounded and dying for three days and. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. In 1859, swiss businessman henry dunant was traveling in northern italy when he witnessed the aftermath of a bloody battle between francosardinian and austrian forces near the small village of solferino. Living in the dark shadow of the battle of solferino. Solferino was a decisive battle and the victory of the francosardinian forces over austria opened the doors to independence and unity. They included henry dunant, a swiss businessman who was in the town of solferino on the day of the battle and later toured the site, horrified at the thousands of wounded, most of them untended.