Jane Goodall, a legendary primatologist whose studies of wild chimpanzees transformed our understanding of apes, died Wednesday at age 91.
Jane Goodall, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, spent decades teaching about the intelligence of chimpanzees. She left behind powerful lessons about aging " and living well " too. nyti.ms/3IS8XuH[image or embed]
" The New York Times (@nytimes.com) Oct 2, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Ms Goodall taught us so much. We should be forever grateful for her work.
Dame Jane Goodall
achievement.org
...Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in London. Her father, Mortimer Morris-Goodall, was a well-known race car driver. From early childhood, Jane was fascinated by all animals, an interest encouraged by her mother, Vanne. When Mortimer Morris-Goodall went to war, young Jane moved with her mother and younger sister, Judy, to live with her grandmother and aunts in the seaside town of Bournemouth, where they remained when her father and mother divorced following the war.
A precocious reader in a family of women who encouraged intellectual accomplishment, Jane read everything she could get her hands on about wild animals and Africa. She did well in school despite an unusual neurological condition, known as prosopagnosia, which makes it difficult to recognize faces. Unable to afford a university education, she moved to London after school to work as a secretary for a documentary film company. When an opportunity arose to visit a friend's family in Kenya, she returned to Bournemouth and worked as a waitress in a local hotel, living at home to save money for her trip.
Young Jane Goodall loved animals, books, and books about animals. (Courtesy of the Jane Goodall Institute)
In Kenya, Goodall was introduced to the legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey. Leakey hired her as an assistant and secretary, and she accompanied him and his wife Mary on an archeological dig at Olduvai Gorge.
A leading authority on the evolution of man, Leakey knew there was a lack of hard data concerning the behavior of chimpanzees -- our nearest evolutionary relatives -- in the wild.
Although Jane lacked scientific training, or even a college degree, she was eager to attempt the research herself.
Despite Leakey's confidence in her abilities, other experienced professionals did not believe a lone young woman from England could survive in the African bush. When the British colonial authorities refused to allow her to travel alone to the chimpanzee reserve near Lake Tanganyika, she recruited her mother to stay with her.
In the summer of 1960, Jane Goodall and her mother arrived at Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in what is now Tanzania. At first the Gombe chimps fled at the sight of a human intruder, and Goodall could only observe them from a distance through binoculars.
Over the months that followed, she gradually won the trust of a single male chimpanzee she named David Graybeard. ...
Drudge Retort Headlines
Preservation Group Urges Pause on White House Demolition (157 comments)
U.S. Boat Strikes have Killed 32 People (62 comments)
Farmers Outraged At Trump's Argentina Beef Deal (43 comments)
After 'No Kings' protests, where does Democratic opposition go next? (30 comments)
Trump wants $230 million from DOJ for Investigating him: NYT (24 comments)
Republicans Struggle to Explain Shutdown of the House (20 comments)
Americans Can't Afford Their Cars Anymore Wall St Is Worried (20 comments)
Sliwa's Boss Latest Republican Trying to Push him out of NYC Mayoral Race (20 comments)
'Athletically Allergic' ICE Recruits Flunking Out (18 comments)
Anti-vaccine Activists Want to Go Nationwide (16 comments)