Guillaume Henri Dufour

Guillaume Henri Dufour
Portrait of Dufour by his daughter Anne Octavie L'Hardy Dufour (1818-1891), after 1840
Born(1787-09-15)15 September 1787
Konstanz, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany)
Died14 July 1875(1875-07-14) (aged 87)
Geneva, Switzerland
Allegiance France (1811–1817)
  Switzerland (1817–1875)
Service / branchFrench Army
Swiss Army
Years of service1811–1875
RankCaptain (France)
General (Switzerland)
CommandsSwiss Army
Federal Office of Topography
Battles / warsNapoleonic Wars
Sonderbund War
AwardsLégion d'Honneur
Other workProfessor of mathematics, cartographer, founding committee of the International Red Cross
Signature

Guillaume Henri Dufour (French pronunciation: [ɡijom ɑ̃ʁi dyfuʁ]; 15 September 1787 – 14 July 1875) was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led the Swiss Confederation forces to victory against the Sonderbund. In 1864 Dufour presided over the First Geneva Convention which established the International Red Cross. He was founder and president (1838 to 1865) of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography.