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Authorised form of nameRoss; Sir; Ronald (1857 - 1932); malariologist
Dates1857 - 1932
NationalityBritish
Place of birthAlmora, Kumaon Hills, North-Western provinces, India, Asia
Date of birth13 May 1857
Place of deathPutney, London, England
Date of death16/09/1932
Occupationmalariologist
Research fieldMedicine
ActivityEducation:
Primary schools at Ryde, Isle of Wight; boarding school at Springhill, near Southampton (1869); DPH (United Colleges, London); St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, London (1874)
Career:
Ships' Surgeon (for one year); embarked for India on the troopship Jumma (1881); posted in Madras, Moulmein (in Burma/Myanmar), Baluchistan, Andaman Islands, Bangalore and Secunderabad (1881-189); posted as the Acting Garrison Surgeon at Bangalore (1883); on home leave in London with his family (1894) during which time he met Sir Patick Manson (FRS 1900) who became his mentor, introducing him to the problems in malaria research; returned to India on P&O ship Ballaarat, landing in Secunderabad, went to Bombay Civil Hospital seeking malarial patients, making blood films (1895); observed the early stages of malarial parasite inside a mosquito stomach and deported to Bangalore to investigate an outbreak of cholera (1895); left India and began intense correspondence with Manson on (1895-1899) where he recorded his increasing skill at hatching mosquito larvae, dissecting the insects at different stages of development, and identifying parasites which infect them; tested Manson's hypotheses that the malaria parasite developed in the mosquito's larva, and that human beings contracted the disease via contaminated water and infected air, with ambiguous results; he began major research of his own, involving brown and 'dapple-winged' mosquitoes, routinely hatching larvae, dissecting, and working with malaria patients, to investigate the method of transmission (1897), for which he won the Nobel Prize (1902); worked at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (1899); settled in London (1912).
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Physiology or Medicine) 1902
Honours:
CB 1902; KCB 1911; KCMG 1918
Memberships:
MRCS
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election06/06/1901
Age at election44
ProposerPatrick Manson; James Crichton Browne; Thomas Lauder Brunton; James Dewar; David Ferrier; Henry Charlton Bastian
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
VP 1911-1913
Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1909
RelationshipsParents: General Sir Campbell Claye Grant Ross (1824–1892), then a captain in the 66th regiment of Gurkhas, and Matilda Charlotte (d. 1906), daughter of Edward Merrick Elderton, a London solicitor.
Spouse: Rosa Bessie (1861×3–1931), daughter of Alfred Bradley Bloxam, a man of independent means.
Children: Dorothy (1891–1947) and Sylvia (1893–1925)
PublishedWorksRCN R61382
RCN 52371
RCN R61379
RCN R61380
RCN R61381
RCN R61383
RCN R61384
RCN R61386
RCN R61385
OtherInfoReceived the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria: the discovery of the malarial parasite found in the gastrointestinal tract of a mosquito.
The Ross family was Scottish, of clan Ross, but Ross's great-great-grandfather was a director of the East India Company, and his grandfather, father, and an uncle were soldiers in the Bengal army.
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
Image

Ross R, IM003890.jpg

SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1932-1935 vol l pp 108-114, plate, by George Henry Falkiner Nuttall
References:
R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 1. 1731-1847' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 307-332
CodeNA2281
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1901/10Ross, Sir Ronald: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/003890Ross, Sir Ronaldnd
NLB/34/123Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society1 December 1906
NLB/23/1/177Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society, Liverpool 8 October 1901
CMB/14Malaria CommitteeJuly 1898 to November 1903
CMB/15Malaria CommitteeJuly 1898 to November 1903
NLB/41/22Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society24 September 1909
RR/16/370Referee's report by Edwin Ray Lankester, on a paper 'Note on a fagellate parasite found in culex fatigans' by Major Ronald RossDecember 1905
RR/16/369Referee's report by Adam Sedgwick, on a paper 'Note on a flagellate parasite found in culex fatigans' by Ronald Ross14 December 1905
RR/17/87Referee's report by William Bate Hardy, on a paper 'The existence of centrosomes and the other structures in the red blood corpuscles of vertebrates' by Ronald Ross, J E S Moore and C E Walker[December 1906]
NLB/17/178Copy letter from Theodore E James, to Professor Alfredo Antunes Kanthack, 2 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge8 August 1898
NLB/17/229Copy letter from Theodore E James, to the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta10 September 1898
NLB/17/97Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Lord George Hamilton, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India15 July 1898
NLB/19/208Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Michael Foster, [Secretary, Royal Society]13 July 1899
NLB/18/709Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Patrick Manson26 April 1899
NLB/21/8Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Dr Ronald Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]14 July 1900
NLB/23/1/216Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society11 October 1901
NLB/23/1/510Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society25 November 1901
NLB/23/1/730Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society13 January 1902
NLB/26/53Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to, Major [Ronald] Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society21 January 1903
NLB/24/599Copy letter from unknown correspondent, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society6 June 1902
NLB/24/435Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society16 May 1902
NLB/25/35Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society28 July 1902
NLB/24/771Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, Liverpool14 July 1902
NLB/25/830Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society8 January 1903
NLB/25/778Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]1 January 1903
NLB/26/770Copy letter from Sir Michael Foster to, Major [Ronald] Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society29 May 1903
NLB/26/797Copy letter from Sir Michael Foster to, Major [Ronald] Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]3 June 1903
NLB/27/749Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society, Liverpool 24 November 1903
MC/19/702Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Secretary of the Royal Society11 January 1904
NLB/27/762Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society26 November 1903
NLB/28/167Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society25 January 1904
NLB/29/113Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society6 July 1904
NLB/28/348Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society22 February 1904
NLB/31/371Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]25 August 1905
NLB/30/571Copy memoranda regrading the cause of Sleeping Sickness, signed by J Rose Bradford, David Bruce, E Ray Lankester, M Foster, J Lister, Ronald Ross, J Burdon-Sanderson, C S Sherrington, and Dr F W Mott, [Fellows of the Royal Society][April 1905]
NLB/31/355Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society19 August 1905
NLB/31/484Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major [Ronald] Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society26 September 1905
NLB/29/594Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor Rubert William Boyce, Fellow of the Royal Society, Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine11 November 1904
NLB/31/654Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major [Ronald] Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]27 October 1905
NLB/31/839Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major [Ronald] Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]23 November 1905
NLB/31/896Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major [Ronald] Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]4 December 1905
NLB/32/489Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society 20 March 1906
NLB/32/478Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]17 March 1906
NLB/42/821Copy letter from John Rose Bradford to [Major R] Ross11 October 1910
NLB/32/685Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society, University College, Liverpool 7 May 1906
NLB/35/613Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society19 June 1907
NLB/34/204Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society12 December 1906
NLB/34/270Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society19 December 1906
NLB/34/501Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major [Ronald] Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society31 January 1907
NLB/44/497Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross KCB, FRS 20 July 1911
NLB/39/117Copy letter from Archibald Geikie to Major R [Ronald] Ross, CB, Fellow of the Royal Society27 November 1908
NLB/39/66Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Major R [Ronald] Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society20 November 1908
NLB/43/52Copy letter from John Rose Bradford, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society28 October 1910
NLB/40/674Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Major Ronald Ross CB, FRS16 July 1909
NLB/43/63Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society1 November 1910
NLB/44/352Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross KCB, FRS27 June 1911
NLB/43/360Copy letter from John Rose Bradford, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society15 December 1910
NLB/42/537Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor Major R [Ronald] Ross CB, FRS, University, Liverpool30 June 1910
NLB/43/436Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society14 January 1911
NLB/43/90Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society4 November 1910
NLB/43/254Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society30 November 1910
NLB/44/420Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir R [Ronald] Ross KCB, FRS10 July 1911
NLB/43/450Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society18 January 1911
NLB/45/377Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross KCB, FRS26 February 1912
NLB/44/507Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir R [Ronald] Ross KCB, FRS24 July 1911
NLB/45/55Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross KCB, FRS13 December 1911
NLB/46/4Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society21 May 1912
NLB/48/372Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society23 June 1913
NLB/46/228Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society27 June 1912
NLB/45/479Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross KCB, FRS13 March 1912
NLB/46/424Copy letter from John Rose Bradford, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society29 July 1912
NLB/47/299 Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Ronald Ross, KCB, FRS13 January 1913
NLB/48/289Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society11 June 1913
NLB/50/76Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society28 April 1914
RR/18/75Referee's report by Henry George Plimmer, on a paper 'A case of Blackwater fever' by Ronald Ross, David Thomson and SimpsonOctober 1910
NLB/54/334Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Messrs Harrison & Sons16 April 1917
RR/23/84Referee's report by Arthur Stanley Eddington, on a paper 'An application of the theory of probabilities to the study of a priori pathometry - Part II' by Ronald Ross and Hilda P HudsonNovember 1916
NLB/55/71Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS22 November 1917
NLB/53/129Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS3 May 1916
NLB/53/191Copy letter from [William Bate] Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society and FRS; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS22 May 1916
NLB/66/586Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS31 May 1924
NLB/53/321Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS10 July 1916
NLB/53/224Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS02 June 1916
NLB/56/526Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS4 March 1919
NLB/56/801Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS29 May 1919
NLB/58/87Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS12 March 1920
RR/23/83Referee's report by Percy Alexander MacMahon, on a paper 'On the iteration of certain functions' by Ronald Ross18 October 1916
RR/23/81Referee's report by Andrew Russell Forsyth, on a paper 'On the iteration of certain functions' by Ronald Ross13 July 1916
RR/18/73Referee's report by Henry George Plimmer, on a paper 'A case of sleeping sickness studied by precise enumerative methods: Further observations' by Ronald Ross and David ThomsonOctober 1910
NLB/59/472Copy letter from Edwin Deller, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS5 October 1920
NLB/58/778Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS18 June 1920
RR/18/72Referee's report by Henry George Plimmer, on a paper 'Some enumerative studies on malarial fever' by Ronald Ross and David ThomsonOctober 1910
NLB/60/269Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS8 January 1921
RR/23/82Referee's report by William Burnside, on a paper 'On the iteration of certain functions' by Ronald Ross23 July 1916
NLB/57/136Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS, KCB29 July 1919
NLB/57/73Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS, KCB14 July 1919
NLB/57/188Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS, KCB11 August 1919
NLB/63/31Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; toSir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., FRS16 June 1922
NLB/57/800Copy letter from Sir James Hopwood Jeans, FRS, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS, KCB9 February 1920
NLB/62/718Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to the Editor of 'The Times'12 April 1922
NLB/57/891Copy letter from Sir James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, FRS, KCB27 February 1920
NLB/66/589Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, K.C.B., K.C.M.G, FRS2 June 1924
NLB/70/679Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, KCB, FRS30 June 1927
NLB/72/412Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, KCB, FRS7 October 1929
NLB/72/271Copy letter from Henry Hallett Dale, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Ronald Ross, KCB, FRS13 June 1929
NLB/19/377Copy letter from Michael Foster, to the Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office, S.W.7 September 1899
NLB/27/784Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society28 November 1903
NLB/28/318Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society17 February 1904
NLB/39/43Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Professor S [Sidney Harris Cox] Martin. Fellow of the Royal Society, Chairman of the Physiology Sectional Committee17 November 1908
RR/18/74Referee's report by Henry George Plimmer, on a paper 'Experiments on the treatment of animals infected with trypanosomes, by means of atoxyl, vaccines, cold, X-Rays, and leucocytic extract; enumerative methods employed' by Ronald Ross and David ThomsonOctober 1910
NLB/17/190Copy letter from Michael Foster, to the Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office, S.W. 16 August 1898
NLB/57/819Copy letter from Sir James Hopwood Jeans, FRS, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr JWL [James Whitbread Lee] Glaisher, FRS13 February 1920
NLB/57New Letter Book volume 57, copy letters sent from Royal Society administration27 June 1919-27 February 1920
MC/19/707Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Secretary of the Royal Society5 July 1904
MC/20Volume 20 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1905
NLB/28/129Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Major Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society13 January 1904
MC/19/706Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Secretaries of the Royal Society18 February 1904
MC/19/703Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society15 January 1904
MC/19/704Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society20 January 1904
MC/19/705Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society23 January 1904
MC/19/708Letter from Ronald Ross, The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to the Secretary of the Tropical Diseases Committee, The Royal Society9 November 1904
MC/19Volume 19 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1904
NLB/46/655Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society10 October 1912
MC/20/322Letter from Ronald Ross, to Sir Archibald Geikie19 August 1905
MC/20/323Letter from [Ronald] Ross, to Sir Archibald Geikie23 August 1905
MC/20/324Letter from [Ronald] Ross, The Incorporated Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison4 October 1905
MC/20/325Letter from [Ronald] Ross, The Incorporated Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to [David] Bruce10 October 1905
MC/20/326Letter from [Ronald] Ross, The Incorporated Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Johnston Tropical Laboratory, University of Liverpool, to [Robert William Frederick] Harrison18 October 1905
MC/20/327Letter from Ronald Ross, The Lodge, Aigburth Vale, Liverpool, to Sir Archibald Geikie26 November 1905
NLB/31/860Copy letter from Archibald Geikie, to Major [Ronald] Ross, [Fellow of the Royal Society]27 November 1905
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