Ian Fraser

Sir Ian Fraser FRSE PRCSI PBMA DSO OBE LLD (1901–1999) was a Northern Irish surgeon. He served as president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1954-1956 and was president of the British Medical Association. In the Second World War he was responsible for the implementation of the widespread use of the newly discovered penicillin throughout military hospitals, saving tens of thousands of lives. He was described as "Northern Ireland's best-known surgeon".

He was a lifelong campaigner for the harmonisation of relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The Sir Ian Fraser Theatre in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, his named in his honour.

Life

He was born on 9 February 1901 in Belfast the son of Dr Robert Moore Fraser a Belfast GP. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and then studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast where he won numerous prizes before graduating in 1923. He undertook practical training at both Guy's Hospital in London and the nearby Middlesex Hospital. He then worked at the Hotel Dieu and Hospital Necker in Paris and the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna.

In the Second World War he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. After initial service in West Africa, the War Office called upon him to begin field trials of the then-new penicillin, which was felt to be of huge benefit in cases of sepsis. In this he was personally contacted by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, seeking his valued medical opinion.

His more unusual awards and honours include Knight of Justice and Bailiff Grand Cross. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1979 as Knight Commander of the Order of St John. He also received multiple honorary doctorates. France created him a Chevalier de Légion d'honneur, Belgium made him Ordre de la Couronne and the Dutch made him Ordre van Oranje-Nassau.

He died in Belfast on 11 May 1999. He is buried with his wife Eleanor Mitchell (1902-1999) at St Patrick's in Drumbeg, Northern Ireland.

Publications

Blood Sweat and Cheers (1989) Looking Back (1995)

Artistic recognition

His portrait, by Carol Graham, hangs in the Great Hall at Queen's University, Belfast.