when the first nobel peace prize was awarded in 1901, the norwegian nobel committee opted to give it jointly to henry dunant and frédéric passy, a leading international pacifist. more significant than the honour of the prize itself, the official congratulation from the international committee of the red cross marked the overdue rehabilitation of henry dunant and represented a tribute to his key role in the formation of the red cross. dunant died nine years later in the small swiss health resort of heiden. only two months earlier his long-standing adversary gustave moynier had also died, leaving a mark in the history of the committee as its longest-serving president ever.