Who founded the International Red Cross Movement?
Swiss businessman, Henri Dunant, founded the Red Cross Movement after witnessing an 1859 battle outside the northern Italian town of Solferino. At nightfall, he saw 40,000 dead and wounded soldiers strewn about the battlefield without medical attention and began organizing care for the wounded. Dunant remembered the horror and worked to establish a society for aid of those wounded in battle. In 1864, the first Geneva Convention established the International Committee of the Red Cross and specified that the red cross would be a protective emblem for medical personnel, equipment, and facilities.
