Max Huber was born on 28 December 1874, barely fifteen years after Solferino and Henry Dunant's action in the Chiesa Maggiore at Castiglione, and only ten years after the first Geneva Convention. Thus he grew up with the Red Cross, with which he was to become intimately associated. At the beginning of our century, he wrote about the role and duties of the Red Cross and the Geneva Committee, and also spoke about them in his lectures on international law at Zurich University. He represented Switzerland at various international conferences, including the 1907 Hague Conference; acted as legal expert to the Federal Government; was a member and later president of the Permanent Court of International Justice. In 1923 he was elected a member, in 1925 Vice-President and in 1928 President of the ICRC, to which he tirelessly devoted himself until 1944. When his successor, Carl J. Burckhardt, took leave of absence, he agreed to resume the presidential duties for a time. In token of gratitude, the ICRC made him honorary president for life.