Bethune Memorial House National Historic Site of Canada, Gravenhurst, Ontario
Posted by: 
colincan
N 44° 55.256 W 079° 22.569
17T E 628160 N 4975449
Bethune Memorial House is birthplace to Dr Norman Bethune. Built in 1880 this former Presbyterian Manse is visited by thousands of Chinese every year to whom 70 years after his death Bethune remains a national hero.
Waymark Code: WM5CKW
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/18/2008
Views: 21
Bethune Memorial House in Gravenhurst, Muskoka, Ontario commemorates the life and accomplishments of Dr. Henry Norman Bethune (1890-1939). A man of great energy, intellect and compassion he selflessly served others as a surgeon in Canada, the United States, Spain and China. Bethune was both pioneer and humanitarian in the field of socialized medicine, years before Tommy Douglas formally brought the issue to the Canadian public. Perhaps Canada’s foremost international figure, if only because he is known to the 1.3 billion Chinese who still learn about him from an early age, Bethune became a communist when it was unpopular to do so. He took his ideals to the Spanish Civil War where he pioneered the mobile blood transfusion units which were to save thousands of lives there and later in China. Bethune died at the battlefront in China in 1939 when he contrated blood poisoning while performing an operation on a wounded Chinese soldier. The house was designated of national importance in 1996.
Classification: Administered Site
Province or Territory: Ontario
Location - City name/Town name: Gravenhurst
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: Not listed
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