Jules Voncken was Surgeon General of the Belgian Medical Component

Belgian Medical Component

The Medical Component is the medical service of the Belgian Armed Forces. It provides medical support for the Belgian Armed Forces and its operations, participates in humanitarian aid and provides certain services to the civilian society...

 with the rank Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 (Medical Corps). He was also co-founder and general secretary of the International Committee of Military Medicine

International Committee of Military Medicine

The International Committee of Military Medicine is an international and intergovernmental organization consisting of more than one hundred states...

 (ICMM) located in Liège.

Life

In 1920, when he had the rank of a Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 (MC), Vonken met USN

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 (MC) William Seaman Bainbridge

William Seaman Bainbridge

William Seaman Bainbridge was an American surgeon and gynecologist. He also was a military physician of the United States Navy and co-founder of the International Committee of Military Medicine located in Liège....

 at the 28th Congress of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS), where they had the idea of founding an international association of military services. Due to this idea the permanent committee of International Congresses of Military Medicine and Pharmacy (ICMPM) was founded on May 21, 1952, which was renamed in 1990. Voncken became the first general secretary of the institution, and held the chair until his death. After 1937 he was invited expert member of the International Red Cross at the revision works of the 1929 Geneva Convention.

Today's Jules-Voncken-Preis of the ICMM is named in honor of him.