Arthur Neve

Arthur Neve, MD (1859–1919) was a doctor and Christian medical missionary who felt the call to serve abroad early on in life. As a well distinguished medic, Neve willingly left home at a young age when he was called to Kashmir to continue the medical missions of Dr. Theodore Maxwell and Dr. William Elmsie. He moved to Asia and never looked back, soon becoming the head of the Kashmir Medical Mission where he would go on to serve the sick in Kashmir for the next thirty four years by building the Kashmir Mission Hospital with his brother, Ernest. Influenced by his strong roots in his religion, Neve served the people of Kashmir while also spreading his Christian message to a predominantly Muslim and Brahmin area.

He also served in World War I as a Major at the military hospitals in Brighton and France. He was praised for his extraordinary work serving for his home and the injured of the war.

Neve is also remembered as an avid mountaineer for his excursions in the rural outskirts of Kashmir, as traveling and geographical research became one of his favorite hobbies while living abroad. After finishing his time serving in the war, he returned to Kashmir in 1919 where he died shortly after.

Background Early life and family Arthur Neve was born on 24 December 1859 in Brighton, England. His parents were strongly devoted to the Church of England, and were interested in the medical missionary work that the Church was doing abroad at the time. Because they were so close in age, they grew up doing everything together and attended the same schools. They ultimately had the same passions, and eventually Ernest Neve grew up to follow in his brother's footsteps and joined Arthur's medical mission work in Kashmir.

Education Neve began his schooling at the Brighton Grammar School, where he attended with his brother, Ernest. He then went on to attend The University of Edinburgh in 1876. Having felt the call to serve early in his life, he entered his studies at the University level knowing he wanted to become a medical missionary, and completed his initial medical training there.

After graduating from the University of Edinburgh he proceeded to work as a house physician in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. In 1898, he was joined by his niece Nora Neve, who had completed her nursing training with the Church Missionary Society. and was the head of his self-built Kashmir Mission Hospital for thirty-seven years. He served this position right up until his death, after which his brother took it over for him. Due to the respect he gained from his medical accomplishments in the communities in Kashmir and throughout India, he was granted the position of President of the Medical Missionary Association of India from 1908-1910, and in 1909 he served as the Vice President of the Indian Medical Congress.

Other achievements Neve was an avid author and wrote often about Kashmir. He wrote books such as Kashmir, Ladakh and Tibet (1899), Picturesque Kashmir (1900), Thirty Years in Kashmir(1913), The Tourist’s Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh and Skardo (1923),