J Med Biogr 2008;16:195-196
doi:10.1258/jmb.2008.008021
© 2008 Royal Society of Medicine Press
Norman Bethune (1822–92), Canadian surgeon, as remembered by Henry Dunant (1828–1910), founder of the Red Cross Organization
D Vanni,
R Ottaviani and
P Vanni
Correspondence: P Vanni, Historical Office of Italian Red Cross, Via dei massoni, 21-50139 Florence, Italy (email: paolo.vanni{at}unifi.it)
Norman Bethune was born on 13 August 1822 in Moose Factory (Ontario) Canada, the son of Angus Bethune (1783–1858), an important trader of fur in the Northwest Company and Hudson's Bay Company, and Louisa McKenzie (1793–1833 [Figure 1]).1 The family moved to Toronto in 1840 and Norman attended King's College for his arts degree and in 1845 entered King's College Medical School in Toronto, from whence he went to London and graduated at King's College and Guy's Hospital in 1848 as a surgeon. On returning to Canada in 1849 he joined four other doctors to set up the Upper Canada Medical School, the third medical school in Toronto (the others were King's College and John Rolph's Toronto School of Medicine). In 1850 he moved to the Trinity Medical School (Toronto) and there, under Bishop John Strachan (1778–1867), he became Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. He contributed papers (anatomy, medical pathology, monstrosity in medicine) to the Upper Canada Journal of Medical and Surgical and Physical Sciences during the period 1851–54.2
In the academic year 1855–56, while Dean of the Faculty
and at a time when the Trinity Medical School was short of students
and funds, Bethune and his colleagues placed a notice in the
local newspaper to exempt applicants for the MD degree from
subscribing to the Anglican Church's
39 Articles. Dr Strachan
objected strongly to this position and the staff resigned (Figure
2).
Hence in October 1856 Bethune joined the Toronto School of Medicine,
Victoria University, and taught Anatomy.
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Figure 2 Resignation letter Bethune, Dean of the Faculty, published courtesy of H Pilon, archivist of Trinity College, Toronto, 2001
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Bethune successively went to Edinburgh and qualified as a surgeon
in the Royal College of Surgeons in 1860. Next he went to Strasburg
to specialize and then, on 24 June 1859, to Solferino (Mantova,
Italy) where Henry Dunant, Founder of the International Red
Cross, wrote in
Solferino Memory3:
Un chirurgien anglo-américain, le Dr Norman Bettun, professeur d'anatomie à Toronto, dans le Haute Canada, vint exprès de Strasbourg apporter son concours à ces hommes dévoues.
Bethune returned to Toronto in 1860 and joined Victoria College Faculty as Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine (Figure 3). When the Trinity Medical School removed the religious barriers, Bethune returned to Trinity College and accepted the post of Professor of Surgery and he held this until 1881. In his later years he was also Consulting Physician to the Toronto General Hospital (Figure 4) where he worked with Dr George Ansel Stirling Ryerson (1855–1925), founder of the Canadian Red Cross. Ryerson was also Professor at Trinity College University. The final years of Bethune's life were very sad for he became an alcoholic and was reduced to misery; at first his son Malcolm looked after him but he later entered a home for incurables.
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Figure 3 Norman Bethune, member of St Andrews Society, published courtesy of Miss F Pope, Toronto, 2001
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Figure 4 Comparison between JR Robertson's picture of Toronto Medical Hospital (1829–56) and that of Norman Bethune. This Hospital site is no longer active, published courtesy of Miss F Pope, Toronto, 2001
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His grandson, Norman Bethune II (1890–1939) was better
known for he became physician and surgeon with an active part
as surgeon in Mao's Red Army for which he became a hero in the
People's Republic of China. He always spoke of his grandfather
with great admiration.
4 Norman Bethune II left Canada for the
last time in 1938 to join the 8th Route Army in the Shanxi-Hobei
border region China. There he was a tireless and inventive surgeon,
teacher and propagandist, and he adopted the cause and the people
as his own. He died in 1939 from septicaemia.
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References and notes
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 References and notes
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- Pope F. Personal Communication. Archivist retired of the Museum of the History of Medicine in Toronto
- Dunant H. Memorie. 2 edizione riveduta ed ampliata a cura di P Vanni, MG Baccolo and R Ottaviani. Sorbona Idelson Gnocchi ed. Napoli 2005
- Dunant H. Un souvenir de Solferino. Genève: Comité International de la Croix Rouge, 1950
- Vanni D, Ottaviani R, Guerin E, Vanni P. Norman Bethune ‘One’ a surgeon as possible precursor of the Canadian Red Cross. New Yperman 2007;8:52–9
- Larrat Smith M. Prologue to Norman, the Canadian Bethunes. Oakville, Ottawa, Canada: Mosaic Press Valley Edition, 1976
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