Grassi, Battista

GRASSI, BATTISTA. - Born at Rovellasca on 27 May 1854, died at Rome on 4 May 1925. His research, begun in the field of parasitology, subsequently extended to various animal groups (chaetognaths, hymenopterans, dipterans, termites, arachnids, muraenoids and teleosts) and opened fertile fields of biological investigation.

His name is linked to the discovery of the intermediate parasite of the malaria plasmodium that infects humans and to the description of its developmental cycle. He tackled the most varied problems, thanks to his great passion for research and his vast culture, and surrounded himself with a valiant host of collaborators and pupils. He had a lively polemic with R. Ross over priority in the discovery of the anopheles as the transmitter of malaria in humans, a discovery that impartial sources claim for G. In his last years he strove for antimalarial prophylaxis in the Italian regions most affected by malaria.

He was a believer and lived without ambitions, humble and poor; he held that life does not belong to the chemical-physical order alone, but depends on a higher order, as is evident from his important discourse: La vita come sembra ad un biologo, in Rendic. Acc. Lincei, 1906, II, pp. 219-39.

Giorgio M. Baffoni