Henry Pomeroy Davison

Henry Pomeroy Davison (June 12, 1867 in Troy, Pennsylvania - May 6, 1922 in Locust Valley, New York) was an American banker and philanthropist. The oldest of the four children of George B. and Henrietta Davison, Henry's mother died when he was just eight years old. After completing his education he became a bookkeeper in a bank managed by one of his relatives, and at age 21 he gained employment at a bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the hometown of his wife Kate Trubee. Three years later he moved to New York City where he was employed by the Astor Place Bank, and sometime later became president of the Liberty National Bank. Several years later he was involved in the founding and formation of the Bankers Trust Company. In 1909 he became a senior partner at JP Morgan & Company, and in 1910 he was a participant in the secretive meeting on Jekyll Island, Georgia that may have led to the creation of the Federal Reserve and has generated much speculation over the years.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 at the Villa La Columbia in Florence; she was named after the city of her birth. Her father, William Edward Nightingale (1794-1874), was son of William Shore, a Sheffield banker. When Nightingale came of age on 21 February 1815 he inherited the Derbyshire estates at Lea Hurst and Wood end in Derbyshire from, and assumed the surname of Peter Nightingale, his mother's uncle. On 1 June 1818 he married Frances Smith, a strong supporter of the abolition of slavery. They had two daughters, Parthenope and Florence. "Parthe" was given the classical name of Naples where she was born.

Henry Dunant – the destiny of the founder of the Red Cross

Jean-Henri Dunant was born on 8 May 1828 in Geneva to a middle-class Calvinist family. His early initiatives included participating in the creation of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in 1852 and the World Alliance of YMCAs in 1855.

He was employed by the private bank Lullin et Sautter and in 1853 became involved in projects to develop farmland in Algeria. In June 1859, because of financial difficulties linked to these enterprises, he decided to appeal directly to Napoleon III. However, the emperor was in the field directing a military campaign against the Austrian army in northern Italy. Dunant therefore set out for Italy with the intention of putting his complaints against French colonial bureaucracy to the sovereign.