Jane Goodall

Biography

Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England, and passed away on October 1, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. An acclaimed English primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist, she was widely considered the leading expert on chimpanzees after more than 60 years of research at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her work changed scientific views on the connection between humans and other primates, showing that the gap between humans and other animals was not as clear-cut as once thought.

Goodall started her fieldwork in 1960 under the guidance of palaeontologist Louis Leakey, who chose her because she didn't have formal academic training, allowing her to study her subjects without any strict scientific preconceptions. At Gombe, she observed the Kasakela chimpanzee community and documented previously unseen behaviors in wild primates, such as making and using tools, group violence, deep emotional bonds, and the passing down of learned behaviors. These findings challenged the existing ideas about what it means to be human and led scientists to rethink how Homo sapiens relate to other great apes. She later earned a PhD in ethology from the University of Cambridge in 1965, despite not having an undergraduate degree, due to her significant field research.

In 1977, Goodall started the Jane Goodall Institute, focusing on the conservation of chimpanzees and their habitats and promoting environmental causes. In 1991, she launched the Roots and Shoots program, a global youth initiative that encourages young people to take action on issues affecting animals, communities, and the environment. Eventually, the program grew into a global network in many countries. Throughout her career, she also advocated for animals in captivity and those used in lab testing, working with groups like Save the Chimps and advising on animal welfare policies. The United Nations named her a Messenger of Peace in 2002.

During her lifetime, Goodall wrote 32 books, including the significant field study In the Shadow of Man, published in 1971 and translated into 48 languages. She wrote 15 books for children, believing that involving younger generations was key to lasting conservation efforts. She was featured in over 40 documentary films and continued to give public lectures even in her later years, traveling widely to discuss issues like biodiversity loss and climate change. She was married twice, first to wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick and then to Derek Bryceson, a Tanzanian parliament member, who passed away in 1980.

Among the many awards she received were the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences in 1990, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1997, the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2003, the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research in 2003, the Nierenberg Prize in 2004, the Officer of the Legion of Honour title in 2006, and the Catalonia International Prize in 2015. She studied at Newnham College, University of Cambridge.