The forgotten malariologist: Giovanni Battista Grassi (1854–1925)

The discovery of the mosquito as a vector for malaria parasite was an important discovery at the turn of the 19(th) century for which Sir Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize in 1902. Battista Grassi, an Italian physician and a zoologist is also credited with this discovery and he described the species of the mosquito and proved the transmission in healthy human volunteer. Although we remember his name only in this context, he also made numerous other discoveries spanning the fields of protozoology, helminthology, entomology, and zoology.