Guillaume Henri Dufour was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led the Swiss Confederation forces to victory against the Sonderbund. In 1864 Dufour presided over the First Geneva Convention which established the International Red Cross. He was founder and president of the Swiss Federal Office of Topography.
Portrait of Dufour by his daughter Anne Octavie L'Hardy Dufour (1818-1891), after 1840
Daguerreotype of general G.H. Dufour, c. 1848
Equestrian statue (1884) by Alfred Lanz, at Place Neuve, Geneva
20 francs note (1956)
The General is an office and rank in the armed forces of Switzerland. It is held by the commander-in-chief of the Army in time of war only. Under the Swiss Constitution, he must be elected by the Federal Assembly, assembled as the United Federal Assembly, specifically for the purpose of taking on the war-time responsibilities.
Kepi of General
Image: Hans Herzog
Image: Guisan Visp 1942 D2.8916
Image: lossy page 1 General Wille CH BAR 3237761 cropped.tif