Abstract
Canadian thoracic surgeon Dr. Norman Bethune is known for his dichotomous legacy in Canada and China. In China, Bethune is remembered as a model cadre, a foreigner who died for the Chinese Communist cause. In 1938 Bethune travelled to China to prove his loyalty to the communist cause and be a part of something bigger. Bethune’s medical inventions and ideas, such as mobile blood transfusions left a lasting impression on the Chinese medical system, yet he did not become a household name until the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Mao Zedong used Bethune as a martyr in propaganda which resulted in the immortalization of Bethune in China.
However, in Canada Bethune is less celebrated and often used as a controversial political tool. Bethune’s peers viewed him as a crass, egotistical and reckless surgeon. Bethune was largely forgotten in Canada until the Canadian government began using his legacy to forge a relationship with the Chinese government in the 1970s. The Canadian government’s blind recognition of Bethune in order to maintain international relations with an increasingly controversial nation is frustrating to many Canadians.
Using a variety of sources including medical journals and newspapers, this presentation will focus on the dichotomy of Dr. Norman Bethune and how it highlights the role politics play in the national memory of historical figures.
Recommended Citation
Schepis, Ashley
(2025)
Henry Norman Bethune: Controversial Canadian vs. Bia Qui En: Chinese Model Cadre.
The Graduate Review, 10.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/grad_rev/vol10/iss1/6