Statue of Dr. Norman Bethune, on the main street in Gravenhurst, Ontario
Dr. Norman Bethune (1890-1939), was an energetic, intelligent, and compassionate doctor who worked in Canada, Spain and China. Dr. Bethune is most famous for his work in China where he worked for the last two years of his life as a surgeon and teacher on battlefields where Chinese fought Japanese invaders. He died there from a knife wound that became infected. Even today, Dr. Bethune is a hero in China.
Bethune Memorial House National Site, Gravenhurst
The first floor and master bedroom of this house in which Dr. Bethune was born have been restored to what it looked like in 1890. A closer view of the front porch can be seen in sepia on my other blog HERE.
Banners featuring self portraits of children in Spain, China and Canada
The day my husband and I visited, banners were hanging along the main street in front of the Bethune house. Each banner bore self portraits of children now living in countries where Dr. Bethune worked as a surgeon.
Visit My World Tuesday HERE to see tons of photos from around the world.
40 comments:
What a place and look at the porch!!
Thank you for sharing your world, EG!
It's a beautiful tribute for so important man.I like a lot the first picture, the sculpture is beautiful!
Léia
A fabulous person, to be sure.
I love all the self portraits.
Darla
I visited the Bethune house many years ago, perhaps it's time to explore Gravenhurst again.
Thanks so much for the info on this great man. It does my heart good to read about such people.
I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves!
What a grand tribute to a great man. I am glad you went a-visiting. Love the pictures by the children. It is a lovely house. MB
Thank you for sharing...I learned about someone today.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I've seen Dr. Bethune on Chinese stamps -- he is truly a hero there.
What a wonderful tribute to such a wonderful man! Thanks! Great photos as always! Have a lovely week!
Sylvia
I love the banners. What a great tribute to a great person.
A beautiful tribute to such a great man...and, what a beautiful sculpture showing him on the move. Time is essential in medicine!
That sounds like it would be an interesting place to visit and even more interesting person to learn more about.
That house is beautiful!
Thank you for the information on this great man. I recently read about a similar person here in Colorado Springs. His name is Dr.William Bell. A lot of things in common. Thank you for sharing.
a life well spent. and i'm happy he's remembered today.
This is a wonderful, touching memorial to Dr. Bethune. Was he a missionary doctor? It's great that even today he is a hero to people in China.
A life well lived!
He sounds like an exemplary home-town hero! I like the children's self-portraits, too.
Thank you for your nice comment on my blog. I enlarged your mosaic and was impressed by the self portraits of the children.
What an amazing man, and a hero I am glad to be introduced to. One reason why I love blogging. It does my heart good to learn of people such as this wonderful doctor. I also love the self portraits of the children's drawings. What an exceptional idea to hang them out in tribute. Most definitely a hero to so many.
EG, what a wonderful entry! And the history of this special man is so interesting - I also love the selfporttraits :)
http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2010/10/11/My-World-e28093-Budapest-now.aspx
Dr. Bethune was a very brave man and a hero. I have read about the massacres in Shangai and Nanking in 1937. The house is beautifully kept. A very nice tribute to him.
Thank you for sharing and introducing me to a person I did not know before. One can only wish, that time and life continue to provide such role models.
Please have a good Tuesday.
daily athens
I'll bet if he were alive today he would be part of the organization, Doctors Without Borders.
His work should be more widely known in Canada. This helps spread the word!
I love the feeling of action in the statue, it's not static at all - wonderful.
A great story - people like him are too few and far between.
The first biography I ever read was one of Bethune. I love the idea of those banners!
That's my favorite way to learn (or brush-up on) history. An important man. The kids' banners add a whimsical touch and it makes me happy that they're being taught about what he did.
A wonderful statue of a man on the move. Intense. Thanks for the story, too.
Interesting post. Love the house!
EG: That was so neat that you got to visit this historic house.
What wonderful portraits at the doctor's house.
a beautiful house and a well-deserved tribute for a great man. thanks for sharing.
Those self portraits are fantastic. Love the purity of vision if you could call it that.
His sculpture is well done. I am for the preservation and restoration of old houses, and this is just a great tribute to a great man.
Very interesting !
to be a statue it looks very clean. :)
Super! I didn't know that statue existed.
Kay, Alberta
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