Committee of Five meets in Geneva, founding the International Committee of the Red Cross

Background. Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman, published A Memory of Solferino in 1862, advocating for national voluntary relief organizations to nurse wounded soldiers without discrimination. His book gained attention, leading the President of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, Gustave Moynier, to discuss its suggestions at a meeting on 9 February 1863. The Society appointed five members to form a sub-committee to prepare a memorandum for a welfare congress.

Committee Formation. On 17 February 1863, the five men held their first meeting. They decided the sub-committee should declare itself constituted as a Permanent International Committee, continuing to exist as an International Committee for Relief of Wounded in the event of War after its mandate from the Geneva Society for Public Welfare expired. This meeting is now considered the founding date of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Conference Resolutions. The Committee organized an international conference in Geneva in October 1863 to develop measures to improve medical services on the battlefield. The final resolutions, adopted on 29 October 1863, included proposals that contributed to the founding of the Red Cross. Fourteen states took part in the meeting, which was organized by the committee to discuss improving care for wounded soldiers.