Talk:Gustave Moynier

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Did Gustave Moynier or Henry Dunant found the commitee of five? --Gbleem 00:28, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Gustave Moynier was president of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare. As such, he received a copy of Dunants book and introduced it during a session of that society early in 1863. The members of the society discussed the book and Dunants proposals, and decided to set up a commission, in other words a temporary working group, of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, with the aim to further evaluate the feasibility of Dunants ideas. They invited (or appointed) Moynier, Dunant, Appia, Dufour and Maunoir as members of that commission. Soon afterwards, due to the activities of its five members the commission evolved into the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded. On the one hand, one could argue that Dunant was the founder because all of that began with his ideas as outlined in his book. On the other hand, one could argue for Moynier because he introduced the book to the members of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare. But in the course of events neither Moynier nor Dunant officially founded the Committee, it was set up by the assembly of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare and became a body of its own through the work of its members. Furthermore, from what I know "Committee of Five" was never used as the official name of the commission. That name is more like an interim identifier. Hope that answers yours question. --Uwe 09:08, 9 December 2005 (UTC)