Ronald Ross

The Nobel Prize for pioneering work on malaria was supposed to be shared between the English doctor and Italian physician, Giovanni Battista Grassi. However, disagreement ensued between the two scientists, and Robert Koch, a part of the awarding committee decided that Ross was the winner.

This was despite the fact that Grassi was the one to establish that it was the female Anopheles that spread malaria to humans.

Ronald Ross was born to Sir Campbell Claye Grant and Matilda Charlotte Elderton, on May 13, 1857, in Almora, India.

As a child, he was brought up in Isle of Wight, England, by his uncle and aunt. He pursued his primary education from schools located in Ryde, and later, in 1869, joined a residential school in Springhill.

At school, he enjoyed learning literature, music and mathematics, and was particularly talented in painting. He wished to pursue a career in writing, but on his father's insistence, joined London's 'St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College' instead, in 1874.

In 1879, the young man was employed as a surgeon on a ship, after clearing the 'Royal College of Surgeons' examinations. During the same time, he also worked towards earning a degree from the 'Society of Apothecaries'.

He studied at the 'Army Medical School' in Washington, for a few months, before joining the 'Indian Medical Service' in 1881.

Ross served at Bangalore, British India, in 1883, as an Acting Garrison Surgeon. It was during his stay there that he found a way to control the breeding of mosquitos.

During 1888-89, he travelled to London in order to study at the ‘Royal College of Physicians’ and ‘Royal College of Surgeons’, as well to pursue a course in bacteriology.

In 1894, when the young doctor went to London, he got a chance to get acquainted with Scottish physician, Sir Patrick Manson, who was of the opinion that India was the perfect spot for studying about malaria and the problems associated with it.

In 1895, he reached Secunderabad, where he immediately went to the 'Bombay Civil Hospital' to conduct experiments on malaria. It was here that he scrutinized the parasite found inside the stomach of a mosquito.

His experiments were cut short when he was suddenly posted at Bangalore, where, instead of conducting research on malaria, he had to treat patients suffering from cholera.

Ross is known for his invaluable contribution to the field of Malariology, where he has found the cause of the disease, the nature of the parasite, and has identified the species of mosquito that transmits it. In this regard, he has penned several books, including, 'The Prevention of Malaria', amongst many more.