Bethune - Norman Bethune

A Canadian doctor born in Toronto. He served as a military surgeon in World War I, and after being discharged he became a pediatrician, but after undergoing treatment for tuberculosis he specialized in thoracic surgery, becoming a full member of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons in 1935. In the same year he investigated the medical situation in the Soviet Union at that time, and in 1936 he joined the Canadian Communist Party. In the same year he participated in the Spanish Civil War as a military surgeon on the side of the Popular Front. In January 1938, with the support of the China Aid Council and the American League for the Defense of Peace and Democracy, he traveled to China, and entered Yan'an in April. After that, he served with the Eighth Route Army as a health advisor for the Jinchajhi border area, and made a great contribution to frontline medical care, hospital construction, and the training of doctors and nurses until his death in November 1939. Mao Zedong wrote "In Memory of Bethune" in praise of his internationalist spirit, and the medical school and hospital he founded were moved to Shijiazhuang in 1952 and became the Norman Bethune International Peace Hospital. In 1972, the Canadian government designated him a Canadian of "national and historical importance."

[Endo Setsuo]

"The Life of Dr. Bethune" by R. Stewart, translated by Yoshinao Sakatani (1978, Iwanami Shoten)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

カナダ出身の医師。トロントの生まれ。第一次世界大戦に軍医として参加、復員後小児科医となるが、肺結核療養を経て胸部外科を専攻、1935年アメリカ胸部外科学会の正会員となる。同年、当時のソ連の医療事情を調査、1936年カナダ共産党に入る。同年スペイン内戦に人民戦線側の軍医として参加した。1938年1月、中国援助評議会、アメリカ平和民主主義擁護連盟の後援を得て中国に渡り、4月延安に入る。以後、晋察冀(しんさつき)辺区衛生顧問として八路軍に従軍し、1939年11月殉職するまで、前線での治療、病院建設、医師・看護師の養成に大きな貢献をした。毛沢東は彼の国際主義の精神を称えて『ベチューンを記念する』を書き、彼が創始した医学校と病院は、1952年石家荘(せきかそう)に移され、ノーマン・ベチューン国際平和病院となった。カナダ政府は1972年、彼を「国家的、歴史的に重要な」カナダ人に指定した。

［遠藤節昭］

『R・スチュワート著、阪谷芳直訳『医師ベチューンの一生』（1978・岩波書店）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例