Since the Bulletin International des Sociétés de Secours aux Militaires Blessés was first published in 1869, the journal that eventually became known as the International Review of the Red Cross has had sixteen editors-in-chief. Each has shaped the journal in his own way. The following list of these editors-in-chief was compiled by ICRC historian Daniel Palmieri.
Gustave Moynier, Editor-in-Chief 1869–1871. Mr Moynier (1826–1910) was a member of the “Committee of Five” that founded what was to become the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Auguste Bost, Editor-in-Chief 1871–1872. Mr Bost (1815–1890) was a pastor and the editor of the Journal de Genève and other newspapers.
(Louis-)Arnold Nicolet, Editor-in-Chief 1872–1875. Col. Nicolet (1846–1914) was an instructor colonel of the Swiss Armed Forces.
Louis Théodore Wuarin, Editor-in-Chief 1875. Mr Wuarin (1846–1927) was a professor of sociology and social economy at the University of Geneva.
Philippe Plan, Editor-in-Chief 1875–1885. Mr Plan (1827–1885) was a photographer and the founder and editor of the newspaper Le Genevois.
Albert Henri Gampert, Editor-in-Chief 1885–1893.Footnote 1 Mr Gampert (1860–1929) was lawyer, politician and administrative adviser to the city of Geneva.
Paul des Gouttes, Editor-in-Chief 1893–1925.Footnote 2 Mr Des Gouttes (1869–1943) was a lawyer, secretary of the ICRC starting in 1893, and secretary-general starting in 1910. He was a member of the governing body of the ICRC from 1918 to 1943.
Etienne Clouzot, Editor-in-Chief 1919–1942.Footnote 3 Mr Clouzot (1881–1944) was a graduate of the Chartes School, archivist, paleographer, head of the ICRC Secretariat, and editor of the Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge from 1919 to 1925 (in collaboration with Paul des Gouttes).
Henri Reverdin, Editor-in-Chief 1926–1945.Footnote 4 Mr Reverdin (1880–1975) was a philosopher and a professor of philosophy at the University of Geneva from 1919 to 1956.
Louis Demolis, Editor-in-Chief 1943–1954.Footnote 5 Mr Demolis (1876–1968), was a chemist, a high school teacher, and a technical adviser at the ICRC starting in 1926.
Jean-Georges Lossier, Editor-in-Chief 1955–1976. Mr Lossier (1911–2004) was a poet, literary critic, sociologist and member of the ICRC Secretariat.
Michel Testuz (left), Editor-in-Chief 1977–1986. Mr Testuz (1922–1987) was a doctor of literature and a lecturer in Arabic, Hebrew and Hebrew literature at the Universities of Geneva, Lausanne and Rome. He was a resident staff member of the ICRC in Palestine and later an ICRC delegate, and was director of the Bodmer Foundation.
Jacques Meurant, Editor-in-Chief 1986–1995. Mr Meurant is a doctor of political science and was special adviser to the secretary-general of the League of Red Cross Societies starting in 1962. He was director of the Henry Dunant Institute starting in 1979.
Hans-Peter Gasser, Editor-in-Chief 1996–2001. Mr Gasser is a doctor of laws and was court clerk at the Winterthur District Tribunal, a lawyer at the Swiss Federal Department of Public Economy, and assistant secretary-general of the Swiss Science Council. He joined the ICRC in 1970.
Toni Pfanner, Editor-in-Chief 2002–2010. Mr Pfanner is a doctor of economics, adjunct professor of international law at St Thomas University School of Law and at the University of Lausanne, and visiting professor at the College of Europe. He joined the ICRC in 1984.
Vincent Bernard, Editor-in-Chief 2010–present. Mr Bernard studied political science, international law and international relations. He started in the ICRC in 1998 as resident staff in Dakar and specialized in integration and promotion of international humanitarian law in his ICRC career in the field and in Geneva. He is head of the Law and Policy Forum, which runs the ICRC's engagement with academia and other sophisticated audiences.
