Posted by LittleMissEvil on Mon 16 Nov 09, 10:29 PM to LittleMissEvil's blog.
Before today, I would not have said I had a person in history I admire; there had been lots of great people in the past who have all done fantastic things for the good of humanity, the likes of Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, and Gandhi to name a few. All of whom would make great roll models for people to look up to. But regardless of their actions they never inspired me as a person.
Yet for one of my subjects at uni, International Criminal Law, we are looking at the Geneva Conventions. Now most people think of them as being something modern, and to a degree they are right the ones in use are from 1947 and were implemented after the Second World War. But the origins of them date back to the 19th century and the very first Geneva Convention from 1864. This was a landmark in its day it put down in to words what were recognised as customary law, acts that had been practiced for years that were considered to be how you should act, and put them down on paper.
Not something that big you may think, but considering that this treaty was ratified by the vast majority of the European states at the time was a land mark. The convention also changed the way medical personal were considered in armed conflict, and providing them with an internationally recognised symbol; the red cross.
This also led to the formation of the International Red Cross. An organisation that is still going strong today and aiding the world as and when it is needed. An organisation that just about every person knows about, but how many people know who's idea it was?
Well the idea behind the convention and the Red Cross was from my new hero Henry Dunant, reading the book on the Geneva convention really stirred something deep inside me and his story is one of adulation and sorrow. Yet considering what he did you would think he was a household name the world over, but very few people know who he is. So I thought I would do a little weblog to share this with you all.
So next time I am out I most certainly plan to raise a glass to the work of Henry Dunant.
| 17 Nov 09, 7:40 AM Amber_Light 3 yrs |
*Raising glass* to Henry Dunant!! Wow! I'd never heard of him either. Such a great man that so many millions actually owe their lives to when you think about it. It has always annoyed me - no - angered me actually, that at school I learned about the likes of Henry the (bloody murdering barbaric) Eighth instead of his incredible father Henry VII, one the greatest monarchs this country has ever known. It is often those who deserve greater recognition that go by the wayside in history classes and those who murdered and plotted that get to be in our school books. Thank you for bringing this great man to my attention. I think I shall look him up and have more of a read about him when I get home from work. | ||
| 17 Nov 09, 8:24 AM fussyone 9 yrs  |
Blushes - so kind of you to speak so highly of me | ||
| 17 Nov 09, 8:25 AM LittleMissEvil 4 yrs |
Well i didn't want people to get the wrong idea Some people say i am evil, i have no idea why they think that. | ||
| 17 Nov 09, 11:19 AM pimento UK(GL), 5 yrs  |
Mother Theresa was not as saintly as she was painted to be, she was a harridan who put her religion before the safety and welfare of the people she helped, and shipped most of the donations she received back to the Vatican for the pope to continue funding campaigns that increase the spread of aids and misery throughout the world. I prefer my role models compassionate and unfettered by delusions of religious fervour or political bias. Raymond Borel who was one of the doctors who founded Medicins sans Frontier for example...so I too raise my glass to Jean Henri Dunant. You save yourself, or remain unsaved. - Alice Sebold |
x