A MEVVA (metal vapor vacuum arc) ion source has been made and tested at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow. The ions are created in the plasma formed from the cathode metal vapor of a vacuum arc discharge. An ion beam current of about 200–400 mA in repetitively triggered pulses of width 0.1 ms has been obtained. The ion charge state distributions have been measured for seven elements (Be,C,Al,Fe,Cu,Zr,W) and they are in reasonable agreement with results of other workers. The MEVVA ion source is simple to operate and has a reliability acceptable for use as an ion source for ITEP synchrotron injection.