DUNANT HENRY: (1828-1910) ´ If anyone deserved to be the recipient of the first Peace Prize.....it is surely the ...

DUNANT HENRY: (1828-1910) ´ If anyone deserved to be the recipient of the first Peace Prize.....it is surely the Count de Sellon´

DUNANT HENRY: (1828-1910) Swiss humanitarian, social activist and co-founder of the Red Cross, the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1901. A fine A.L.S., H. Dunant, one page, 4to, Heiden, (Appenzell Ausserrhoden), 18th July 1903, to [Valentine de Sellon] (´Mademoiselle´), in French. Dunant commences his letter by asking his correspondent to accept a small volume, Un Souvenir de Solferino, ´lors de l´apparition duquel, en 1862, Vous voulutes bien prendre interet´ (Translation: ´in the appearance of which, in 1862, you kindly took an interest´), continuing to add ´J´ai suivi les bons conseils que Vous eutes la bonte de me donner a cette epoque´ (Translation: ´ I have followed the good advice you were kind enough to give me at that time´) and further remarking ´Si quelqu´un eut merite d´etre Laureat du Premier Prix de la Paix decerne par le Gouvernement Norvegien, c´est bien, certes, Monsieur le Comte de Sellon, de veneree et regrettee memoire´ (Translation: ´If anyone deserved to be the recipient of the first Peace Prize awarded by the Norwegian Government, it is surely the Count de Sellon, of blessed and regretted memory´). A charming and humble letter. VG

Valentine de Sellon (1823-1904) was the daughter of Jean-Jacques de Sellon (1782-1839) Swiss writer, philanthropist, pacifist and art collector who served as a Chamberlain under Napoleon and who founded the Société de la Paix at Geneva in 1820. Sellon was also one of the champions of the abolition of the death penalty.

The ´small volume´, Un souvenir de Solférino (´A Memory of Solferino´), which Dunant refers to in the present letter was published in 1862 and is the humanitarian´s account of the suffering of thousands of wounded soldiers which he witnessed in 1859 at the Battle of Solferino. The book led to the establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions. It is still considered today to be one of the most important humanitarian writings ever printed.