Henry Norman Bethune

This great Canadian achieved international renown as a physician and social activist. He made significant contributions to thoracic surgery in Canada and was an early advocate of socialized medicine. Embracing communism, in 1936–1937 he led a Canadian team which pioneered the use of front line blood transfusions to republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. Bethune subsequently served as a battlefield surgeon and medical advisor to Mao Zedong’s 8th Route Army in 1938–1939. After his death at the front in 1939, he became a national hero in China and a symbol of Canadian-Chinese friendship.

Médecin et militant accompli, ce Canadien de renommée internationale contribua grandement à l’avancement de la chirurgie thoracique au Canada et fut, avant son temps, un défenseur de la médecine sociale. Devenu communiste, Norman Bethune conçut et organisa en 1936-1937 un des premiers services mobiles de transfusion sanguine pour les forces républicaines durant la guerre civile d’Espagne. Puis en 1938-1939, il oeuvra comme chirurgien et conseiller médical pour la 8e armée de terre de Mao Zedong. Mort au front en 1939, il devint un héros national en Chine et un symbole des liens de l’amitié canado-chinoise.