Person
Bethune, Norman (1890-1939)Other forms
Gravenhurst (Ontario, Canada) 1890-03-03 - China 1939-11-12
He was a Canadian doctor. He studied Medicine and he served as a doctor on the battlefield. Later on, he was the owner of a clinic in Detroit and in 1926 he worked as a surgeon at the Montreal Hospital Royal Victoria. He joined the Russian Communist Party in 1935 after visiting Russia. One year later, he travelled to Spain in order to serve the Second Republic as a doctor in the Spanish Civil War. He created the "Instituto Hispano-Canadiense de Transfusión de Sangre"
Spanish-Canadian institute for Blood Transfusionsand, little by little, he extended his activity to other fronts. In February 1937 he moved to Malaga after its fall in order to help with the evacuation. During this year, the Canadian Communist Party asked him to head back to Canada and, once he was there, he started to raise funds in order to finance the medical service during the Spanish Civil War. However, not so much time had passed since he moved to China to help the Red Army involved in the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) of World War II. He died before time because of an infection contracted while working in 1939.
Date of the event: 1936 - 1939
Date of the event: 1939 - 1945
Date of the event: 1914 - 1918