Pierre Frédéric Emile Depage (

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 ...

, 3 November 1894 – 11 March 1979) was a

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

and Belgian senator affiliated to the Belgian Communist party. Pierre Depage was a son of the physician, professor and liberal Senator

Antoine Depage Dr. Antoine Depage (Watermael-Boitsfort, 28 November 1862 – The Hague, 10 June 1925), was the Belgium, Belgian royal surgeon, the founder and president of the Belgian Red Cross, and one of the founders of Scouting in Belgium.John S. Wilson ...

was one of the founders of the Boy-Scouts van België (BSB), and Depage was an enthusiastic member of the first troop, founded by

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 ...

Background

Depage obtained his doctorate in medicine. 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 ...

he worked with his father at the ''Clinique de l'Ocean'' in

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 ...

. After he returned from the war, he succeeded his father as leader of the 1st BSB, and was from then national commissioner or chairman of the Executive Committee of the BSB through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the professional level, he was the co-founder of the ''Société Belge de Gastro-entérologie'' in 1928. In 1926 he was appointed physician in the hospitals of the city of

. After World War II he joined the

Communist Party of Belgium The Communist Party of Belgium (, , KPB; , , PCB) was a political party in Belgium from 1921 to 1989. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published a newspaper known as ''Le Drapeau Rouge'' in French ...

. In February 1946 he led the list of the party and was elected communist senator for the

Arrondissement of Brussels LocationElectoralDistrictBHV

The arrondissement of Brussel ...

. He resigned in May 1947. He was also at that time President of the Belgian Red Cross and ensured Belgium considered the positions of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and its satellite states, the only Western country to do so in the

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

. These countries refused to allow the Belgian Red Cross to participate in August 1948 at the International Meeting of the Red Cross in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Depage broke with the communists, and in 1948 emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His correspondence was monitored by the U.S. Government.''U.S. Subject Index to Correspondence and Case Files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1903-1959'' In 1950 he was the head of a United Nations mission in Syria, on behalf of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), which was engaged in providing assistance and employment for

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country, village or house over the course of the 1948 Palestine war and during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refug ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Scouting and Guiding in Belgium 1894 births 1979 deaths {{Belgium-bio-stub