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Aneurin Bevan
Tredegar (Monmouthshire), Wales
Archival Overview
Charismatic Welsh socialist statesman and volcanic orator who, as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's post-war government, founded the National Health Service (NHS) on July 5, 1948, guaranteeing free healthcare at the point of delivery.
Biographical Record
Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897–1960) left school at thirteen to work in the coal mines of South Wales, contracting and overcoming a severe childhood stammer to become the most brilliant parliamentary orator of his generation. Serving as MP for Ebbw Vale, he fiercely denounced poverty, unemployment, and fascism.
Appointed Minister of Health in 1945, Bevan defeated intense opposition from the British Medical Association to pass the National Health Service Act 1946. On July 5, 1948, at Park Hospital in Manchester, Bevan inaugurated the NHS, declaring that sickness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay nor an offense for which they should be penalized.
Key Life Milestones
Passage of the National Health Service Act
Shepherded the historic legislation creating universal, tax-funded free healthcare through Parliament.
Inauguration of the NHS at Park Hospital
Formally opened the National Health Service on July 5, 1948, treating thirteen-year-old Sylvia Diggory as its first patient.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialTredegar (Blaenau Gwent), Wales