It is said that Dunant was the very first person to be labeled a “Christian Zionist” by the “Father of Zionism” Theodor Herzl during the First Zionist Congress, held in August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. Dunant had first spoken out publicly on behalf of restoring a Jewish homeland in 1863 in Paris.
Dunant’s ongoing zeal and efforts to see the Jews restored to their home, to Palestine, never wavered.
To honor and recognize Dunant’s Zionist efforts, Theodor Herzl invited him to the First Zionist Congress. Dunant’s health prevented him from attending, though Herzl did thank him publicly in his final speech at the Congress.