Dr. Antoine Depage (

Watermael-Boitsfort Watermael-Boitsfort (French language, French, ) or Watermaal-Bosvoorde (Dutch language, Dutch, ; ), often simply called Boitsfort in French or Bosvoorde in Dutch, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipal ...

, 28 November 1862 –

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, 10 June 1925), was the Belgian royal surgeon, the founder and president of the Belgian

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, and one of the founders of

Scouting in Belgium The Scouting and Guiding movement in Belgium consists of 15 to 20 separate organizations serving about 160,000 members. Nearly all organizations are grouped by languages and confessions. The Crown Scout rank is the highest a Boy Scout can achie ...

.John S. Wilson (1959), Scouting Round the World. First edition, Blandford Press. p. 35, 37 Depage married Marie Picard in 1893 and they had three children. Marie Depage died on 7 May 1915 in the sinking of when it was torpedoed by German submarine SM ''U-20'', killing nearly 1,200 passengers and crew.

Medicine

Depage studied medicine at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), and graduated magna cum laude in 1887. He became one of the founders and the first secretary of the International Surgical Society (1902–1912). In 1903 he founded a surgical institute, the Berkendael Institute, and

Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape ...

became its head nurse. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Depage established the military hospital l'Océan at

De Panne De Panne (; ) is a town and a municipality located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. There it borders France, making it the westernmost town in Belgium. It is one of the most popular resort town destinations within ...

. He became the first head of the surgical department of the Brugmann hospital (1923). Antoine Depage was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and a member of the

Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium (, ; or G.O.B.) is a Belgian cupola of masonic lodges which is only accessible for men, and works in the basic three symbolic degrees of freemasonry. History The Grand Orient of Belgium was founded in 1833, three y ...

Scouting

Englishman

Harold Parfitt Harold Robert Parfitt (August 6, 1921 – May 21, 2006) was an American military officer and engineer who was the last Governor of the Panama Canal Zone, from 1975 to 1979. Biography He was born in Coaldale, Pennsylvania, on August 6, 1921, to ...

founded the first

Scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted i ...

in 1909 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

for British boys belonging to the British colony in that city. On

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

1910, Henri, the youngest of Depage's three sons watched these Scouts at work in the park of Saint-Gilles, and tried in vain to interest his parents in Scouting. That summer they were on vacation at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

, where Henri found a Scout camp and insisted on taking his mother to see it. She was impressed and bought a copy of ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being exten ...

'', and converted Dr. Depage to the idea. Returning to Brussels, Depage used his influence to secure the formation of the ''Boy Scouts de Belgique'' (Boy Scouts of Belgium, or BSB), which was founded on 23 December 1910. The president of the General Council was General

Comte de t'Serclaes de Wommerson ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word "count" (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word "county" (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * ''Comte'', French for a count (i.e. the nob ...

, Depage was Chairman of the Executive Committee, and the Secretary was

Pierre Graux Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, barrister in the Court of Appeal, whose two sons were among the first Scouts. Harold Parfitt was appointed Chief Scout, and the first camp was held at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

1910. A large tent had been pitched, but everyone slept in the ''orangerie'' of the family house of

Ernest Solvay à la Hulpe Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian ...

. The BSB used the British badges, rules and uniforms, and was open to all boys. In 1912 the Scouts attracted public support by their active help in controlling a widespread brushfire in Fagne. Royal approval was signified through the holding of a large National Rally at the Palace in 1913.

Active in Turkey

Dr. Depage, with his eldest son

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, also a Scout and surgeon, founded and took charge of the Belgian Ambulance in the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the ...

(1912-1913). He was instrumental in starting

Scouting in Turkey Scouting and Guiding Federation of Turkey (''Türkiye İzcilik Federasyonu'', TİF) is the national Scouting and Guiding federation of Turkey. It serves 33,974 Scouts (as of 2011) and 2,883 Guides (as of 2006). The federation is a member of the ...

, where Harold Parfitt, who accompanied him, became Chief Scout, replaced in Belgium by Robert Lutens. However it was not until 1950 that '' Türkiye İzcileri'' became a recognized member of the Boy Scouts International Conference.

References

* ''Scouting Round the World'', John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959 p. 34

External links

Antoine Depage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Depage, Antoine 1862 births 1925 deaths People from Watermael-Boitsfort Belgian surgeons Belgian medical writers Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Scouting and Guiding in Belgium Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)