“Chairman Mao and Norman Bethune”

Norman Bethune (Chinese: 白求恩) was a Canadian thoracic surgeon and a political activist in the early-mid 1900s. In 1935,  Bethune joined the Canadian Communist Party and became a devout communist. Following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, Bethune sought to support China against increasing Japanese aggression.

In January, 1938, Bethune left for China. During his time in China, Bethune supported the Chinese war effort by organizing medical services in Yuan’an and performed surgeries on soldiers wounded on the front lines. A month after his arrival, Bethune met with Mao Zedong in Yuan’an. Following this meeting, Bethune regularly wrote reports to Mao as well as military authorities. Bethune died on November 12, 1939 in China from blood poisoning after cutting his own finger while operating on a soldier; however, Bethune was memorialize in an essay written by Mao Zedong in December 1939 entitled “In Memory of Norman Bethune”  (纪念白求恩).