Picture postcard «Guillaume Henri Dufour 1787–1875»

Guillaume Henri Dufour passed away aged 88 in 1875 following a serious illness. The stamp, released 150 years after his death, reflects many aspects of his personality and his varied accomplishments. Dufour became known above all for his role as commander-in-chief in the Sonderbund War of 1847. He managed to prevent an escalation thanks to his restrained war conduct. He would go on to represent his humanist principles as one of the co-founders of the Red Cross. We then have Dufour the engineer: in 1818, he became cantonal engineer, and helped shape the cityscape of Geneva. Last but not least, we have Dufour the cartographer: as chief of the general staff, he worked with a team to produce the first official topographical map covering the whole of Switzerland – the so-called Dufour Map.