Norman Bethune Square facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Norman Bethune Square |
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| French: place Norman-Bethune | |
Statue of Norman Bethune in Norman Bethune Square.
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| Type | Town square |
| Location | Quartier Concordia, Ville-Marie Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Created | March 23, 1976 |
| Operated by | City of Montreal |
| Status | Open all year |
Norman Bethune Square (French: place Norman-Bethune) is a small public space in Downtown Montreal. You can find it where Guy Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard West meet. It's really close to Concordia University and right across from the Guy-Concordia metro station. The main thing you'll see there is a statue of Norman Bethune, along with trees, benches, and wide sidewalks.
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Who Was Norman Bethune?
Norman Bethune Square was opened on March 23, 1976. It's named after a very important Canadian doctor, Norman Bethune (1890–1939). Even though he was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario and passed away in China, he lived in Montreal for eight years, from 1928 to 1936.
Bethune's Time in Montreal
While living in Montreal, Norman Bethune became a famous chest surgeon. He also developed strong ideas about helping people and making society fairer. These ideas led him to join the Communist Party of Canada, a political group that believed in sharing resources and helping everyone equally.
During his time in the city, Bethune invented new medical tools to fight tuberculosis, a serious lung disease. When the Great Depression hit (a time when many people lost their jobs and money), he worked with Lea Roback to open a free clinic for people who were unemployed and poor. He also spoke out across Canada for "socialized medicine," which means healthcare that is available to everyone and paid for by the government.
Helping Others Around the World
After joining the Communist Party, Norman Bethune traveled to Spain during the Spanish Civil War. There, he created one of the very first mobile blood transfusion services. This meant he could give blood to injured soldiers right on the battlefield.
Bethune later returned to Montreal to support Republican Spain before heading to China. Between 1938 and 1939, just before World War II began, he worked with the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Sadly, he got blood poisoning and died in China while helping others. Later, the People's Republic of China gave the statue of Norman Bethune to the city of Montreal.
Square's New Look
To celebrate 70 years since Bethune helped in China during World War II, the City of Montreal decided to give the square a big makeover. This project cost about 3 million Canadian dollars. The square went through a lot of construction as part of a larger plan to improve De Maisonneuve Boulevard. The newly fixed statue of Norman Bethune was shown to the public on October 14, 2008. The whole square was finished in 2009.
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