Ian MacDonald was born in 1873. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and he studied at Edinburgh University where he was awarded the degrees of M.B., C.M. in 1894, and M.D. in 1898. After graduation he spent his early professional years in Edinburgh and in London (West Ham) before going to the British Hertford Hospital in Paris and working in Laveran's Laboratory where he contributed to Ronald Ross'sPrevention of malaria. He then proceeded to Spain as surgeon to the Rio Tinto Mines Company where he investigated the spread of malaria spread by the mosquito. In 1901 he obtained the degree of M.D. from the University of Paris on the presentation of a thesis on the subject of malaria. In 1903 he joined Dr. W. A. MacKay - an Edinburgh graduate, and his uncle - in Huelva, Spain, where he built up a surgical practice. In 1923 he was made a freeman of Huelva, and he was elected as a Corresponding member of the Society of Surgeons of Paris. Dr. Ian MacDonald died in London on 14 September 1932.