Henry Norman Bethune (/ˈbɛθ.juːn/; March 4, 1890 – November 12, 1939; Chinese: 亨利·諾爾曼·白求恩; pinyin: Hēnglì Nuò'ěrmàn Báiqiú'ēn) was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of socialized medicine, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. A veteran of the First World War, he held militarism and capitalism to be inextricably linked. Bethune was responsible for developing a mobile blood-transfusion service for frontline operations in the Spanish Civil War. Ironically, he died of blood poisoning after accidentally cutting his finger while operating on wounded Chinese soldiers.