Roderick Stewart - Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune

PHOENIX

The Life of Norman Bethune

Roderick Stewart and Sharon Stewart

Roderick Stewart and Sharon Stewart 2011

ISBN 978-0-7735-3819-1

Legal deposit second quarter 2011

Bibliothque nationale du Qubec

Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free

(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free.

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

McGill-Queens University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Stewart, Roderick, 1934

Phoenix : the life of Norman Bethune / Roderick Stewart and Sharon Stewart.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7735-3819-1

1. Bethune, Norman, 18901939. 2. SurgeonsCanadaBiography. 3. SurgeonsChinaBiography. I. Stewart, Sharon II. Title.

R 464. B 4 S 754 2011 617.092 C 2010-907159- X

This book was designed and typeset by studio oneonone in Sabon 10/14.5

Maps

Information used in the writing of Phoenix came from a multitude of individuals. Several among them merit special thanks for their significant contributions to our knowledge of Bethune and his achievements. They include Giovanna Badia, Library, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, QC ; George Bolotenko, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, ON ; Min-sun Chen, Lake-head University, Thunder Bay, ON ; Margaret Cooper, Sault St Marie, ON ; Scott Davidson, Bethune Memorial House, Gravenhurst, ON ; Diana Dodd, Mettlach, Germany; Dong Chun, Beijing, China; Mary Margaret Johnston-Miller, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa; Ji Junmei, Norman Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, China; Cameron Knight, Richmond Hill Public Library, Richmond Hill, ON ; Elizabeth Lamont, Library, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal; Kenneth Lewis, Lodeve, France; Jesus Majada Neila, Arroyo de Miel, Spain; Angel Menda, Pamplona, Spain; Laura Meyer, Victoria, BC ; Qi Ming, Bethune Medical College, Shijiazhuang, China; Pamela Miller, Osler Library of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal; Dr Larry Stephenson, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI ; Dr Grant Stewart, Vancouver, BC , James Sturgis, Tunbridge Wells, England; Guy Tessier, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa; Zhang Yesheng, Beijing, China.

For their invaluable assistance as interpreters of documentation in Chinese, we thank the following: Ling Chen, Nee Lee, Jane Lu, Greg Whincup, David Zhang, Kun Zhang, Lesley Zuo.

Should there be an inadvertent omission in the following list of persons who provided much of the information used to write Phoenix, we apologize profoundly. They include: Ellen Adams, Dr Helen Alsop, Irene Amsden, Robert Anger, G. David Anderson, Paul G. Anderson, Susan Anderson, Andres Arenas Gomez, Kim Arnold, Ken Arnson, Barbara Attebery, James Bacque, Mary Balfour, Paul Banfield, Judy Bates, Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, Dr Jacques Beaudoin, Denise Beaugrand-Champagne, Pierre Beaulieu, Heather Bethune, Stewart Boden, Michael Boland, Mark Bowden, Matt Bray, Estelle Brisson, Moises Broggi, Kevin Brown, Claudette Bue, Ronald H. Bulatoff, Stacie D.A. Burke, Jose-Ramon Navaro Carballo, Morag Carnie, Liette Casola, Joan Cavanagh, Chen Yuen, Christine Clark, John Clarke, Michelle Cousineau, Merrianne Couture, Tina Craig, Mark Dallas, Deng Lilan, Barbara Dent, Paulette Dozois, Jim Dukes, Richard Durack, Linda Facey, Oliver Fairclough, John Fairley, Rosemary Le Faive, Victor Falkenheim, William Feindel, Mike Filey, Meredith Fitzpatrick, Ryan S. Flahive, David Ford, Marion and Cyril Fry, Fred and Styn Furness, Anne Goddard, Frances Geddes, Dan German, David Goodman, Susan Gosling, Michael Gnarowski, Sonya Grypma, Diana Hall, Dr Lesley Hall, Paul Hambleton, Larry Hannant, Phoebe Harkins, Stephanie Harlick, Peter Harris, John Harrison, Dr Gerd Hartmann, Wendy and Gordon Hawksley, John E. Haynes, Carolyn Hein, Roger Hollywood, Bridgett Howlett, Kate Hughes, James Hunter, Kate Jacob, Jon James, Marianne Jettmar, Betty Kalmanash, Brecque Keith, Steven Kerr, Marjorie W. Kehoe, Harvey Klehr, Edward Korvin, James Labosier, Andre Lavoie, William W. LeFevre, Jean-Franois Leclerc, Margaret A. Lee, Loren Lerner, Allan Levine, Hannah Liang, Liang Hongyuan, Feng Lin, Shirley Lindemann, Joan Lindley, Claude Lord, Eric v. d. Luft, Fiona Lundy, Bernard Lutz, Ma Baoru, Loryl MacDonald, Michael MacDonald, Iain Mackenzie, Stephen MacKinnon, Norma MacLeod, Hugh P. MacMillan, Diana Madgin, Gail Malmgreen, John Manley, Rhea Marcel-lus, Carrie Marsh, Jean Mason, Brian Massachaele, Jose Mara Massons, Steven McArthur, David and Diana MacFadyen, Linda McKnight, Rosie McLure, Joan McTavish, Rob McTavish, Nada Mehes-Rovenelli, Jean Pierre Morissette, James Morrison, Myron Momryk, Dr Sean Moore, Jean Morrison (Thunder Bay, ON ), Jean Morrison (Montreal), Dr David Mulder, Indren Mutukistna, Peter Nelson, Naomi L. Nelson, Tom Newnham, David Nicolson, Victoria North, Colin Olds, John OLeary, Ani Orchanian-Cheff, Lea Osborne, Bruno Pacheco, Laurel Parson, Ian Penney, Dr Peter Pinkerton, David Pitcher, Margarita Pitt, Anita Ponsford, Felicity Pope, Jim Powell, Lutzen Riedstra, Natalie Riegler, Martha Riley, Susan Rishworth, Andrea Robbins, Mary Rossiter, Bill Russell, Matthew Ruttan, Caroline Schmidt, Paul Schmidt, Peter Dale Scott, Anne Scotton, Dr Andrew Seeley, Arlene Shaner, Manfred Skopec, Philip Skroska, Donald Smith, J. Earl Smith, Zoe Stansell, Marcia Stentz, Rick Stow, Mark Suggit, Delores Sui, Adam Symansky, Dave Tackenberg, John Tagg, Sophie Tellier, Guy Tessier, Alex Thompson, Dr Tom Treasure, Esther Trpanier, Bogusia Trojan, Lucy Viedma, Wang Siqiang, Leon Warmski, Garron Wells, Kristi Wermager, Lonnie Weatherby, Wei Hongyun, Merrily Weisbord, Lynne Westerby, Anne Wheeldon, Allison Whitney, Les Whitney, Laura Wicks, Chuck Wilcox, Jill Wilmott, Bill Willmott, Dale Wilson, Wu Zhuqing, Yang Xuelun, Dan Zelenyj, Pat Zimmer, Mark Zuehlke, Zou Zhengrong, and Zuo Ling.

We would also like to thank Maureen Garvie for her careful editing of the manuscript.

The authors have made every effort to identify, credit appropriately, and obtain publication rights from copyright holders of illustrations in this book. Notice of any errors or omissions in this regard will be gratefully received and corrections made in any subsequent editions.

My involvement with Norman Bethune began in a classroom in the autumn of 1969. Searching for something to stimulate the interest of my senior students in the history of Canada in the 1930s, I had decided to show them the documentary film Bethune. I knew little more about the man than they did only that he had something to do with China. We were all stirred by the film, and a group of students followed me back to my office afterward, peppering me with questions that I was for the most part unable to answer. My curiosity piqued, I set about trying to learn more. I read the only then existing biography of Bethune, Ted Allan and Sydney Gordons