Christophers was born and raised in Liverpool, the son of Samuel Hunt Christophers and Mary Selina Christophers née Rickard and educated at the Liverpool Institute and University of Liverpool, graduating MB in 1896.
In 1897, he took part in an Amazonian expedition and in 1898 went to Italy as part of the Malaria Commission, followed by a trip to Africa to study malaria. In 1901, the Malaria Commission moved to India.[4]
On his return to England in 1902, he became a Lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service, moving back to India in 1904. In 1910 he was appointed the first Director of the Central Malaria Bureau, coordinating anti-malarial training and research throughout India. He spent World War I on anti-malaria duties in Iraq and in 1919 returned again to India as Director of the Central Research Institute at Kasauli in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Sir Philip Manson-Bahr, son-in-law of Sir Patrick Manson, described Sir Rickard Christophers in 1956:
'Christophers is known everywhere for his endearing qualities. He has a modest bearing and a curious hesitant manner accompanied by a cheerful giggle. He is the friend, philosopher and mentor of all keen young men of science[8]'
He died at Broadstone in Dorset.
He had married Elise Emma Sherman in London in September 1902. She was the daughter of the owner of a coffee estate in India. Their first child, Elise Iseult, was born in June 1903 in Allahabad, India, and their son, Samuel Vagn, in December the following year in Madras. Lady Christophers died in England in 1962.[9]
An expert on tropical medicines, Christophers studied many diseases, particularly malaria. His work on the research of this disease won him the Royal Society's 1952 Buchanan Medal for "outstanding research" on the Anopheles mosquito that transmitted malaria. In his career he also contributed to the taxonomy of other parasites.
