- Born
- Birth nameValerie Jane Goodall
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- After her school education, she initially attended a school for secretaries, but in 1957, at the invitation of a former schoolmate, she realized her long-held dream of getting to know Africa and traveled to Kenya. She found a job at the Kenya National Museum and came into contact with its director Louis Leakey. Although Goodall had no academic training at the time, Leakey suggested that she participate in a field study of wild chimpanzees. She then began working as an assistant for Leakey. In 1960, Goodall, accompanied by her mother, traveled to Lake Tanganyika in what is now Gombe National Park. There she began researching primates, which are genetically closely related to humans. Through her "participatory observation method" she was able to gain new insights into the animals. Goodall discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools. Their work also helped to differentiate bonobos from chimpanzees.
In 1965, the researcher temporarily interrupted her studies to do her doctorate at the University of Cambridge. She received an exemption and was therefore able to do a doctorate even though she had never studied. As Dr. Jane Goodall returned to Tanzania, where she founded the "Gombe Stream Research Center" in Gombe in 1967. With funding from the American National Geographic Society, the first texts and images from her studies appeared. Goodall gained worldwide fame with the publication of her book "Wild Chimpanzees". From 1971 to 1975 she taught as a visiting professor at Stanford University in California. In 1977, the researcher founded the "Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation" in the USA to ensure the protection of the chimpanzees in Gombe and her research activities. In 1987 Goodall retired from field research. Since then she has been committed to protecting chimpanzees.
As an "ambassador for chimpanzees" she travels around the world, giving lectures on environmental pollution and climate change. She also campaigns against the illegal animal trade. Goodall also coordinates various scientific projects carried out in Gombe. In her published autobiography "Reason for Hope" she writes about the motives of her work and the leitmotif of her life. For Jane Goodall, there seems to be no contradiction between belief in God and the Darwinian theory of evolution. Goodall has since moved back to England, to her childhood home. In 2002 she was appointed UN Messenger of Peace. Jane Goodall is also committed to environmental projects with young people, for which purpose she launched the "Roots & Shoots" project. In 2005 she became an officer of the French Legion of Honor. In 2018, the documentary "Jane" by American director Brett Morgan was released in cinemas. In 2020 she received the Tang Prize in the "Sustainable Development" category.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth
- SpousesDerek Bryceson(1975 - 1980) (his death)Hugo Van Lawick(March 28, 1964 - 1974) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsMortimer Morris-GoodallMargaret Myfanwe Joseph
- RelativesMerlin van Lawick(Grandchild)Angel van Lawick(Grandchild)
- She often wears her hair in a ponytail and has a calm, serene demeanor.
- Along with Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas, she is known as a "Trimate", one of the 3 most prominent researchers on primates. "Fossey" on gorillas, "Goodall" on chimpanzees and "Galdikas" on orangutans.
- She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to the environment and conservation.
- Her son, with Hugo Van Lawick, is named Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, but he has always been called Grub (and sometimes Grublin). He was born in 1967.
- Her first husband was a Dutch Baron and, thus, she was called Baroness van Lawick-Goodall while married to him.
- In January 2006, she was inducted by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin as an Officer of the French Legion of Honor, France's highest honor. In a separate ceremony in Paris that same week, she received the UNESCO 60th Anniversary Medal.
- I fell in love with Tarzan and I was very jealous of that wretched, wimpy Jane of his.
- On 3lst January 1961, during my first year studying the chimpanzees of Gombe in Tanzania, a young chimpanzee named Ham hurtled into space and back in a Mercury capsule, paving the way for US astronauts to make similar journeys. Today, 48 years later, I would like to thank the astronauts, Robert Crippen (Robert L. Crippen) and Scott Carpenter, for honoring these chimpanzees and recognizing the contribution made by Gromek, Dana and Gogi, as well as those who never found sanctuary. [at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Florida on April 30, 2009]
- I think these films, including 'Monkey Kingdom', have been valuable in raising awareness. Some people say the commentaries are a little much - the way the narrator puts words in the animals' mouths. To me, it's a perfectly acceptable twist that's really to attract children. We must keep the children involved, and very often their mothers and fathers too.
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