Bethune, Norman (1890-1939)

Canadian doctor. In the Spanish Civil War 1936-39 he worked as a surgeon for the Republican forces, and developed new techniques for blood transfusion in the field. He later went to China to help Mao Zedong's forces in the north, training soldiers in medical techniques.

Bethune was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario, and trained in medicine at the universities of Toronto and Edinburgh. He served in World War I as a medical officer, first in the Royal Navy, then in the Canadian Flying Corps. After the war he practised medicine in Detroit and Montréal.