More languages
More actions
 | Some parts of this article were copied from external sources and may contain errors or lack of appropriate formatting. You can help improve this article by editing it and cleaning it up. (November 2021) |
Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. A veteran of the First World War, he held militarism and capitalism to be inextricably linked.[1]
Bethune came to international prominence first for his service as a frontline trauma surgeon supporting the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, and later supporting the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Bethune helped bring modern medicine to rural China, treating both sick villagers and wounded soldiers.[2]
Bethune was responsible for developing a mobile blood-transfusion service for frontline operations in the Spanish Civil War. Ironically, he died of blood poisoning after accidentally cutting his finger while operating on wounded Chinese soldiers.
Bethune's service to the CPC earned him the respect of Mao Zedong, who wrote a eulogy dedicated to Bethune when he died in 1939. His name is honored in the People's Republic of China to this day.