Dr. Antoine Depage was the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 royal surgeon, the founder and president of the Belgian Red Cross, and one of the founders of Scouting in Belgium

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 achieve.- History:...

.

Depage married Marie Picard in 1893 and they had three children. Marie Depage died on 7 May 1915 in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...

 when it was torpedoed by a German submarine.

Medicine

Depage studied medicine at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Université Libre de Bruxelles

The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking university in Brussels, Belgium. It has 21,000 students, 29% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.-Name:...

 (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 Cavell

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...

 became its head nurse.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Depage established the military hospital l'Océan at De Panne

De Panne

De Panne is a municipality located along the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Adinkerke and De Panne proper. On 1 January 2006 De Panne had a total population of 10,060. The total area is 23.90 km² which gives a population...

. He became the first head of the surgical department of the Brugmann hospital (1923). Antoine Depage was a freemason and a member of the Grand Orient of Belgium

Grand Orient of Belgium

The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium The Grand Orient of Belgium (French: Grand Orient de Belgique, Dutch: Grootoosten van Belgie (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:...

.

Scouting

Englishman Harold Parfitt founded the first Scout troop

Scout troop

The Scout troop is a unit of Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts that usually meet weekly. Girl Guides often use Unit or Company instead. The troop is the fundamental unit, which a Scout joins and via which he or she participates in Scouting activities, such as camping, backpacking, and...

 in 1909 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

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

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 1910, Henri, the youngest of Depage's three sons watched these Scouts at work in the park of Saint-Gilles

Saint-Gilles

Saint-Gilles is the name of several places, most of them named after Saint Giles.-Belgium:* Saint-Gilles is the French name for a municipality in the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region...

, and tried in vain to interest his parents in Scouting. That summer they were on vacation at Folkestone

Folkestone

Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...

, 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

Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship is the first book on the Scout Movement, published in 1908. It was written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell, its founder...

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

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 1910. A large tent had been pitched, but everyone slept in the orangerie of the family house of Ernest Solvay à la Hulpe. 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

Brushfire

Brushfire may refer to:* Brushfire Records, a record label* Brushfire , a fictional supervillain* Brushfire Fairytales, an album by Jack Johnson* Brushfire Inc., an advertising agency in Cedar Knolls, NJ* Brush fire, a wild fire...

 in Fagne

Fagne

Fagne or Fagnes can refer to:*Fagne, a natural region in southern Belgium and northern France, sometimes grouped with Famenne as Fagne-Famenne.*The High Fens , a marshy area in eastern Belgium and western Germany.*1593 Fagnes, an asteroid....

. Royal approval was signified through the holding of a large National Rally at the Palace in 1913.

Dr. Depage, with his eldest son Pierre, also a Scout and surgeon, founded and took charge of the Belgian Ambulance in the Balkan War. He was instrumental in starting Scouting in Turkey, 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.

External links

• Antoine Depage