Louis Gaulis was born on 3 January 1932 in London. His parents were Swiss, and the family soon moved to Geneva, where Louis grew up. He studied the classics in high school and then spent a half dozen semesters studying law, and then ethnography, at university. He ultimately gave up his studies in order to devote himself to theatre and literature.

Actor, playwright, storyteller and novelist – Louis was passionate about writing and performing. He experienced early success and was considered a rising star in the literary scene in French-speaking Switzerland. He also had a hand in founding both a cabaret and a theatre in Geneva. Louis’ affinity for people was apparent in both his writing and his love of travelling. It was those two interests – and a general desire to broaden his horizons and make a lasting contribution – that led him to join the ICRC.

Louis’ first mission with the ICRC was to Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1972. He went on three more assignments over the following six years, to Saigon, Vietnam (1973), Nicosia, Cyprus (1975) and Tyre, Lebanon (1978). He applied his gifts – energy, insight into people and an ability to get things done – to the many challenges he encountered in his work. It was his ability to identify with the communities he worked with and obtain the cooperation of the authorities that made him an effective delegate. Louis also got along well with his colleagues on both a personal and professional level. Indeed, it was after dining with some of them, on 29 March 1978, that he lost his life. He was driving back to his accommodation in Tyre when his car came under fire, and he died in the resulting accident. Louis was 46 years old, and he left behind a wife and two daughters.

Louis was a creative, gregarious and energetic man who sought to put what he learned in the first part of his career – how to connect with people through his natural warmth and generosity – to work in the second part of his career, with the ICRC.