Sir Ian Fraser

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

PRCSI PBMA DSO OBE LLD (1901–1999) was an Irish surgeon. He served as President of the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...

in 1954-1956 and was President of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

. In the Second World War he was responsible for the implementation of the widespread use of the newly discovered

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

throughout military hospitals, saving tens of thousands of lives. He was described as "Northern Ireland's best known surgeon".The Independent (newspaper) obituary 28 May 1999 He was a lifelong campaigner for the harmonisation of relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Sir Ian Fraser Theatre in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, his named in his honour.

Life

He was born on 9 February 1901 in Belfast the son of Dr Robert Moore Fraser a Belfast GP. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and then studied Medicine at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

where he won numerous prizes before graduating in 1923. He undertook practical training at both Guy's Hospital in London and the nearby Middlesex Hospital. He then worked at the Hotel Dieu and Hospital Necker in Paris and the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna. He worked as Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and the Belfast Royal Hospital for Sick Children. During a period as RSO at St Helens Hospital in Lancashire he had to attend a major mining disaster. Thereafter he saw a huge need for widespread first aid training. As a result, in 1932 he became the first Commissioner of the St Johns Ambulance Brigade in Northern Ireland and in 1935 became its first Commander. In 1939 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were William J Hamilton, Sir Frederick W Ogilvie, Thomas H Bryce and Duncan M Blair. In the Second World War he joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

. After initial service in West Africa the War Office called upon him to begin field trials of the then-new penicillin, which was felt to be of huge benefit in cases of sepsis. In this he was personally contacted by

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey (24 September 189821 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Sir Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in ...

and

Ernst Chain Sir Ernst Boris Chain (19 June 1906 – 12 August 1979) was a German-born British biochemist best known for being a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin. Life and career Chain was born in Be ...

, seeking his valued medical opinion. This proved enormously successful. Not only did this save many lives but it also kept a far higher proportion of troops fighting fit, playing a major role in the winning of the war. He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1943 for his bravery during the

Battle of Salerno Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, bu ...

: at Cape Passero he left the safety of the hospital ship St David to personally retrieve wounded from the beaches. He worked without sleep for 48 hours and even donated his blood to save lives. During the D-Day landings he set up a field hospital at Arromanches. He rose to the rank of Brigadier ending his final months of the war in Agra in northern India. In India he had the duty of delivering the first consignment of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as DDT, to the country. From 1952 to 1954 he was President of the

. In 1958 he was President of the Association of Surgeons in Great Britain and Ireland. In 1962 he was President of the

. In 1963 he received his first knighthood. In 1964 he was President of the Queens University Association. He was Chairman of the Police authority 1970 to 1976. As founding Chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Authority and a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment advisory council he was at least twice the subject of IRA bomb attacks.The Guardian (newspaper) obituary 18 May 1999 His more unusual awards and honours include Knight of Justice and Bailiff Grand Cross. He was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1979 as Knight Commander of the Order of St John. He also received multiple honorary doctorates. France created him a Chevalier de Légion d'honneur, Belgium made him Ordre de la Couronne and the Dutch made him Ordre van Oranje-Nassau. He died in Belfast on 11 May 1999. He is buried with his wife Eleanor Mitchell (1902-1999) at St Patricks in Drumbeg, Northern Ireland.

Publications

*''Blood Sweat and Cheers'' (1989) *''Looking Back'' (1995)

Artistic Recognition

His portrait, by Carol Graham, hangs in the Great Hall at Queen's University, Belfast.

Life

Publications

Artistic Recognition

References

Further reading