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Louis Paul Amédée Appia (13 October 1818 – 1 May 1898) was a Swiss surgeon with special merit in the area of military medicine. In 1863 he became a member of the Geneva "Committee of Five", which was the precursor to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Six years later he met
Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
, an encounter which had significant influence on Clara Barton's subsequent endeavours to found a Red Cross society in the United States and her campaign for an accession of the US to the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...
of 1864.


Education and career as a field surgeon

Appie was born in Frankfurt and baptised Louis Paul Amadeus Appia. Appia's parents, Paul Joseph Appia and Caroline Develey, originally came from Piedmont. His father, who had been a University student in Geneva, nevertheless became an evangelical pastor in 1811 in
Hanau Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the ri ...
near Frankfurt am Main. Louis was the third of six children. He went to Gymnasium (high school) in Frankfurt and at eighteen gained the ''Hochschulreife'' diploma in Geneva. In 1838 he began to study medicine in Heidelberg and concluded his medical doctorate in 1843, after which he returned to Frankfurt. In 1848, he assisted the wounded in Paris and Frankfurt during the
February revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
in France and the March revolution in the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
states. Afterwards, his specialty and focus became the improvement of the application of medicine to the war-wounded. After the death of his father in 1849, he traveled with his mother to Geneva and began to practice as a surgeon. In connection with his work on military medicine, he developed an instrument to immobilize a broken arm or leg during the transport of a wounded individual. He also wrote a treatise about surgical treatment for the war-wounded. In 1853, he married Anne Caroline Lassere and during their marriage had two sons (Paul and Adolphe) and two daughters (Helene and Marie). His son
Adolphe Appia Adolphe Appia (1 September 1862 – 29 February 1928), son of Red Cross co-founder Louis Appia, was a Swiss architect and theorist of stage lighting and décor. Early life Adolphe Appia was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, in a "strictly Calvinis ...
became an architect and was a pioneer of modern stage design. In 1859 his brother George, who was a pastor in Pinerolo, sent him several letters regarding the situation for the wounded and victims of the
Austro-Sardinian War The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...
. In July, Appia traveled to Italy and ended up working in field hospitals in Turin, Milan,
Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label=Eastern Lombard, Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes ...
and Desenzano del Garda. He distributed copies of his treatise to the Italian and French doctors, organized the collection of necessary materials, and sent letters to his friends in Geneva requesting the donation of funds to assist the wounded. At the Saint Phillippe Hospital in Milan his invention for transporting patients with broken bones was successfully tested on a wounded lieutenant. At the beginning of August, he returned to Geneva. Here he completed his treatise with the assistance of his friend Dr. Théodore Maunoir and published it as a book with the title "The Ambulance Surgeon; or, Practical Observations on Gunshot Wounds" (''Der Feldchirurg oder einige praktische Studien über Schußverletzungen''). He was also awarded the "Medal of the Saints Maurice and Lazarus", the second-highest decoration of the Kingdom of Italy, for his medical work during the Austro-Sardinian War. In November 1860, he gained the Geneva citizenship right and became a member of the Geneva Medical Society a year later.


Activity with the ICRC

In 1863, Appia was requested to join the "Committee of Five" in order to examine the ideas of Henry Dunant and work towards their possible implementation. He therefore became one of the five founding members of the "International Committee for Relief to Wounded Soldiers" that in 1876 was renamed the "International Committee of the Red Cross" (ICRC). In October 1863, Appia suggested that all volunteers should wear white armbands on the battlefield to designate their status. General Henri Dufour later expanded this recommendation by placing a red cross on the band. A red cross on a white background, the inverse of the Swiss flag, became the symbol of the Committee. During the Second war of Schleswig (Danish-Prussian war) at the
Battle of Dybbøl The Battle of Dybbøl ( da, Slaget ved Dybbøl; german: Erstürmung der Düppeler Schanzen) was the key battle of the Second Schleswig War, fought between Denmark and Prussia. The battle was fought on the morning of 18 April 1864, following ...
(Battle at the Düppeler Schanzen), Appia and the Dutch Captain
Charles Van de Velde Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
became the first delegates in history to wear these armbands as neutral observers of an ongoing battle and the attendant provision of care. Two years later, in June 1866, he became reengaged in the Italian unification struggle after a request by his brother. Together with two other volunteers, the two treated wounded in
Storo Storo (''Stòr'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southwest of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,554 and an area of .A ...
, a small town in Italy. In 1867, Appia took over the position of Secretary when Henry Dunant dropped out of the International Committee. Because of the broad role of President
Gustave Moynier Gustave Moynier (21 September 1826 – 21 August 1910) was a Swiss Jurist who was active in many charitable organizations in Geneva. He was a co-founder of the "International Committee for Relief to the Wounded", which became the International Com ...
, this position had neither significant power nor was it a substantial burden. During this period, the Committee met about three to four times a month in his house. In August 1869, he met
Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
, who was in Switzerland for a long medical rest. Impressed by her activities during the American Civil War, he asked her why the United States had refused to sign the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...
. For Barton, who had not heard of the ideas of Henry Dunant, this conversation became crucial in prompting her efforts after her return towards the founding of the
American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desig ...
and the US accession to the Geneva Convention. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), Appia was again active as a deployed delegate. Also, in October 1872, he gave on the site assistance in Egypt to help in the creation of the first non-European Red Cross society. He also supported Clara Barton's idea to expand the mission of the Red Cross societies to deal with the victim of natural disasters and epidemics. In the following years, he continued his studies on battle injuries and remained an active member of the ICRC until his death.


References

* Originally translated from the German Wikipedia * Pierre Boissier: ''History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume I: From Solferino to Tsushima.'' Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva 1985, * Caroline Moorehead: ''Dunant's dream: War, Switzerland and the history of the Red Cross.'' HarperCollins, London 1998, (Hardback Edition); HarperCollins, London 1999, (Paperback Edition) * Roger Boppe: ''L'homme et la guerre. Le Docteur Louis Appia et les débuts de la Croix-Rouge.'' Muhlethaler, Geneva 1959


External links


Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement History - Dr. Louis Appia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appia, Louis 1818 births 1898 deaths Swiss surgeons People associated with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Physicians from Frankfurt