Jane Goodall, the globally celebrated scientist and activist whose childhood love for primates led to a lifelong mission to protect the environment, passed away on Wednesday, October 1 at the age of 91, according to the institute she founded.
The Jane Goodall Institute announced her death from natural causes in a social media post. “Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science. She was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the statement read.
Goodall, a primatologist turned conservationist, transformed her passion for wildlife into a remarkable career that took her from a coastal English village to Africa and beyond. Her work focused on deepening the understanding of chimpanzees and advocating for the preservation of their habitats, as well as the broader health of the planet.
Primatologist Jane Goodall a pioneer for women in science
A trailblazer in her field, Goodall broke barriers as a female scientist in the 1960s through her groundbreaking research on primate behaviour. Her pioneering efforts paved the way for other women in science, including the late Dian Fossey.
She was survived by her only child, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, known since childhood as “Grub”. Born on March 17, 1967, in Tanzania during her groundbreaking chimpanzee research, Grub is a wildlife cinematographer and conservationist who has continued his mother’s legacy, working on films and projects related to African wildlife.
