Editing Henry Dunant (section)

== Forgotten period ==
[[File:Henry dunant.jpg|thumb]]
Dunant's businesses in Algeria had suffered. In April 1867, the bankruptcy of the financial firm ''Crédit Genevois'' led to a scandal involving Dunant. He declared bankruptcy. The social outcry in Geneva, a city deeply rooted in Calvinist traditions, also led to calls for him to separate himself from the International Committee. Already on 25 August 1867, he resigned as Secretary and, on 8 September 1867, he was fully removed from the committee. Dunant was condemned by the Geneva Trade Court on 17 August 1868 for deceptive practices in the bankruptcies. Due to their investments in the firm, his family and many of his friends were also heavily affected by the downfall of the company.

In February 1868, Dunant's mother died. Later that year he was expelled from the YMCA, because he was the Geneva founder of it, and they felt his business failure tainted the group. In March 1867, he left his home city of Geneva, and would not return for the rest of his life. In the following years, Moynier likely used his influence to attempt to ensure that Dunant would not receive assistance and support from his friends. For example, the gold medal prize of ''Sciences Morales'' at the [[Exposition Universelle (1867)|Paris World's Fair]] did not go to Dunant as originally planned but to Moynier, Dufour, and Dunant together so that the prize money would only go to the committee as a whole. Napoléon III's offer to take over half of Dunant's debts if Dunant's friends would secure the other half was also thwarted by Moynier's efforts.

Dunant moved to Paris, where he lived in meagre conditions. However, he continued to pursue his humanitarian ideas and plans. During the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–1871), he founded the Common Relief Society (''Allgemeine Fürsorgegesellschaft'') and soon after the Common Alliance for Order and Civilisation (''[[Allgemeine Allianz für Ordnung und Zivilisation]]''). He argued for disarmament negotiations and for the erection of an international court to mediate international conflicts. Later he worked for the creation of a world library, an idea which had echoes in future projects such as [[UNESCO]].

{{Multiple image
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| image1 = ICRC-HQ-Geneva-Foyer GustaveMoynier-HenryDunant.jpg
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| footer = The busts of Moynier (left) and Dunant in the foyer of the ICRC HQ in Geneva, looking past each other
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In his continued pursuit and advocacy of his ideas, he further neglected his personal situation and income, falling further into [[debt]] and being shunned by his acquaintances. Despite being appointed an honorary member of the national Red Cross societies of Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, [[Prussia]] and Spain, he was nearly forgotten in the official discourse of the Red Cross Movement, even as it was rapidly expanding to new countries. He lived in poverty, moving to various places between 1874 and 1886, including [[Stuttgart]], Rome, [[Corfu]], [[Basel]], and [[Karlsruhe]]. In Stuttgart, he met the [[Tübingen University]] student Rudolf Müller with whom he would have a close friendship. In 1881, together with friends from Stuttgart, he went to the small Swiss resort village [[Heiden AR|Heiden]] for the first time. In 1887 while living in London, he began to receive some monthly financial support from some distant family members. This enabled him to live a somewhat more secure existence, and he moved to Heiden in July. He spent the rest of his life there, and after 30 April 1892, he lived in a hospital and nursing home led by Dr. Hermann Altherr.

In Heiden, he met the young teacher Wilhelm Sonderegger and his wife Susanna; they encouraged him to record his life experiences. Sonderegger's wife founded a branch of the Red Cross in Heiden and in 1890 Dunant became its honorary president. With Sonderegger, Dunant hoped to further promote his ideas, including publishing a new edition of his book. However, their friendship later was strained by Dunant's unjustified accusations that Sonderegger, with Moynier in Geneva, was somehow conspiring against Dunant. Sonderegger died in 1904 at age 42. Despite their strained relationship, Dunant was deeply moved by the unexpected death. Wilhelm and Susanna Sonderegger's admiration for Dunant, felt by both even after Dunant's allegations, was passed on to their children. In 1935, their son René published a compilation of letters from Dunant to his father.