Brevet Colonel Sir Samuel Rickard Christophers (27 November 1873 – 19 February 1978) was a British

protozoologist Protozoology is the study of protozoa, the "animal-like" (i.e., motile and heterotrophic) protists. The Protozoa are considered to be a subkingdom of Protista. They are free-living organisms that are found in almost every habitat. All humans have pr ...

and medical entomologist specialising in

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

es.

Education

Christophers was born and raised in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, the son of Samuel Hunt Christophers and Mary Selina Christophers née Rickard and educated at the Liverpool Institute and

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, graduating MB in 1896.

Career

In 1897, he took part in an Amazonian expedition and in 1898 went to Italy as part of the Malaria Commission, followed by a trip to Africa to study

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. In 1901, the Malaria Commission moved to India. On his return to England in 1902, he became a Lieutenant in the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, moving back to India in 1904. In 1910 he was appointed the first Director of the Central Malaria Bureau, coordinating anti-malarial training and research throughout India. He spent World War I on anti-malaria duties in Iraq and in 1919 returned again to India as Director of the Central Research Institute at Kasauli in the foothills of the Himalayas. Christophers was also an honorary physician to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

from 1927 to 1930. He was awarded CIE in 1915, OBE in 1918 and knighted in 1931. He retired from the

27 November 1930 a Brevet Colonel. On his retirement in 1932–38, he joined the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

where he became Professor of Malaria Studies in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and Leverhulme Fellow of the Medical Research Council in charge of the Malaria unit at the LSHTM. In 1944 Christophers was awarded the Manson Medal by the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as "t ...

for his significant contribution to the fields of tropical medicine and hygiene.

Personal life

Sir Philip Manson-Bahr, son-in-law of Sir Patrick Manson, described Sir Rickard Christophers in 1956: '''Christophers is known everywhere for his endearing qualities. He has a modest bearing and a curious hesitant manner accompanied by a cheerful giggle. He is the friend, philosopher and mentor of all keen young men of science' He died at Broadstone in Dorset. He had married Elise Emma Sherman in London in September 1902. She was the daughter of the owner of a coffee estate in India. Their first child, Elise Iseult, was born in June 1903 in Allahabad, India, and their son, Samuel Vagn, in December the following year in Madras. Lady Christophers died in England in 1962.

Awards

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in May 1926. He was the sixteenth president of the

from 1939 to 1943. An expert on tropical medicines, Christophers studied many diseases, particularly malaria. His work on the research of this disease won him the Royal Society's 1952 Buchanan Medal for "outstanding research" on the Anopheles mosquito that transmitted malaria. In his career he also contributed to the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of other

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

Works

*A summary of the recent observations upon the

Anopheles ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus ''Plasmodium'', which ...

of the Middle East. ''Indian Journal of Medical Research'' 7, pp. 710–716 (1920). *With Shortt, H.E.: Malaria in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. ''Indian Journal of Medical Research'' 8, pp. 508–529 (1921). *''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books th ...

''. Diptera Volume IV (1933).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christophers, Samuel Rickard 1873 births 1978 deaths People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys Medical doctors from Liverpool British zoologists British entomologists English centenarians Men centenarians Malariologists Manson medal winners British parasitologists Scientists from Liverpool Fellows of the Royal Society Naturalists of British India Indian Medical Service officers Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene