Josef Mässrur (born Ghäsim Khan) (also sometimes spelled Josef Messrur) was a Christian Persian missionary to Chinese Turkestan

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

 with the Mission Union of Sweden.

Josef was born in Tehran, Persia, of Persian parents. He studied medicine and French from a French doctor in Tehran. Afterwards he set up an independent practice.

While he was practising as a doctor a Swedish missionary gave him a New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

, and Josef made the decision to give his life to Jesus. He was baptised and took the name Josef.

In 1894 he joined the Mission Union of Sweden, and went to Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

.

On 5 May 1895, after arriving in Kashgar

Kashgar

Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...

, he married Anna Nyström, whom he had met in Persia. They then worked in Yarkand.

In 1890 they travelled home to Sweden and Persia. They never returned to Chinese Turkestan, but worked in Räscht, and Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

till his death.

He died on March 31, 1913.