Norman Bethune

For this person's grandfather, born August 13, 1822, and also a Canadian physician, see Norman Bethune Sr.

Norman Bethune
Bethune in 1916
Born
Henry Norman Bethune

March 4, 1890 (1890-03-04)
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
DiedNovember 12, 1939(1939-11-12) (aged 49)
Tang County, Hebei, China
EducationUniversity of Toronto
Occupation(s)Physician, surgeon
Employer(s)Royal Victoria Hospital, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal
Known forDeveloping mobile medical units, surgical instruments and a method for transporting blood for transfusions
Political partyCommunist Party of Canada
Chinese Communist Party
Chinese name
Chinese白求恩
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBái Qiú'ēn
Transcription of full name
Traditional Chinese亨利·諾爾曼·白求恩
Simplified Chinese亨利·诺尔曼·白求恩
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHēnglì Nuò'ěrmàn Báiqiú'ēn

Henry Norman Bethune (/ˈbɛθ.juːn/; March 4, 1890[1] – November 12, 1939; Chinese: 白求恩; pinyin: Bái Qiú'ēn[a]) was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. 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 Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Bethune helped bring modern medicine to rural China, treating both sick villagers and wounded soldiers.

Bethune was responsible for developing a mobile blood-transfusion service for frontline operations in the Spanish Civil War. He later died of blood poisoning after accidentally cutting his finger while operating on wounded Chinese soldiers.[4]

Bethune's service to the CCP earned him the respect of Mao Zedong, who wrote a eulogy dedicated to Bethune when he died in 1939.[5] His name is honored in China to this day.

  1. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (February 24, 2015). "Henry Norman Bethune". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  2. ^ 英语姓名译名手册 [Transliteration Manual for English Names] (PDF) (in Chinese) (2 ed.). Beijing: The Commercial Press. 1989. pp. 1, 35.
  3. ^ He, Hailun (1989). "The Art of Naming in China and Translating Western Names Into Chinese". Literary Onomastics Studies. 16 (Article 12): 49.
  4. ^ "Henry Norman Bethune Biography". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Corporation.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MaoEulogy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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