Battista Grassi

GRASSI, Battista (1853–1925), professor at the University of Rome, member of the Academy (Accademia dei Lincei), and a celebrated malariologist. Grassi was one of the most outstanding zoologists of the past 50 years. He is the author of numerous works on intestinal Protozoa; among these, his studies on the intestinal Protozoa of termites, which he investigated for the first time, are of particular interest. Grassi devoted much time to studying the etiology of goiter. His monograph on Phlebotomus (Ricerche sui Phlebotomi, Memorie della Societa Italiana delle Scienze, ser. 3 a, v. XIV, 1907) is one of the best studies of that time.

Grassi's work concerning malaria is of exceptional importance. The investigations of Ronald Ross on avian malaria, which showed that mosquitoes of the genus Culex are the transmitters of parasites (Plasmodium), along with observations on the development of the malaria parasite in the body of the "spotted mosquito," gave Grassi the impetus for research in this field. Together with his two associates, Bignami and Bastianelli, Grassi brilliantly solved this problem by tracing the complete developmental cycle of the malaria parasite and proving that the sole transmitter of malaria is the mosquito Anopheles (Grassi B., Bastianelli G. e Bignami A., Ciclo evolutivo delle semilune nell'Anopheles claviger ed altri, Studi sulla malaria, Atti della Societa per gli studi della malaria, v. I, Roma, 1899).

Grassi provided a general summary of his work on malaria in his classical monograph: Malaria, Studien eines Zoologen (2nd edition, Jena, 1901; Nachtrag hierzu, Jena, 1903; 1st Italian edition, Roma, 1900). Until the very last day of his life, Grassi worked in Fiumicino on resolving specific problems in the fight against malaria; following his idea, stables and livestock sheds were constructed around the town of Ostia in Italy, which were intended to attract mosquitoes and thereby serve as protection for the inhabitants of Ostia.