Jane Goodall a Biography By: Meg Greene

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Jane Goodall a BiographyBy Meg Greene

• PowerPoint By Allison Brooks
• Period 7

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Introduction
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born on April 3,
1934 in a London hospital. Four years later
Janes sister Judy was born. Janes parents got
divorced in 1946, the same year that World War 2
ended. Jane is most famous for her work with
animals like chimpanzees. I chose Jane because
she works with animals and I didnt know much
about her before I read the book except that she
observed chimpanzees.
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Childhood
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born on April 3,
1934 in a London hospital. When Jane was four her
sister Judy was born. Both Jane and Judy had
Prosopagnoia, Prosopagnoia is memory impairment
that makes it hard to remember faces and
patterns. Even though Jane had Prosopagnoia she
could remember many different animals. When Jane
was five, her father moved the family to France
to be closer to the major racing centers. Soon
after the family moved to France, Nazis invaded
Poland and began World War 2 in Europe. In June
1940 Germany conquered France. After that the
family moved back to England. In 1946 World War 2
ended and Janes Parents divorced
Adolescence
Jane graduated high school in 1951. In May 1953,
Jane enrolled at Queens Secretarial College in
South Kensington. In April 1954, Jane completed
training at the college.
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Adulthood
On December 18, 1956 Jane got a letter from a
friend Marie Claude Mange who moved to Kenya and
parents bought a farm and asked Jane if she
wanted to go to her new home. On Janes birthday
she stepped off a train in Nairobi. May 24, 1957
Jane met Louis Leakey, a Paleoanthropologist. In
December 1958, Jane and her mother left Kenya for
Bournemouth and Birches. From there, Jane went to
London to begin her studies at Gombe. May 31 1960
Jane and her mother returned to Nairobi, Kenya.
In 1960, when Jane first arrived the reserve had
approximately 160 chimps. The reserve also had
baboons, red colobus monkeys, and vervet monkeys.
After 3 months at Gombe, Jane felt that she had
learned only little about chimpanzees. During the
next few months, Jane made two important
discoveries. The first discovery Jane had proved
is that chimpanzees arent vegetarians. The
second discovery Jane made was chimps could use
tools to get food and us tools for other tasks.
The more time Jane spend observing chimpanzees
she noticed that the chimps were able to
communicate with each other very similar to the
way that humans do. They hugged, kissed, held
hands and patted each other on the back. They
also punched, kicked, pinched, and swaggered.
Another thing Jane noticed was chimpanzees held
grudges that could last up for weeks at a time.
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Adulthood Continued
In the summer of 1962, Hugo Van Lawick came to
Gombe. Hugo was a Dutch photographer that the
National Geographic Society contracted. In
January of 1963 Jane returned to England to
continue her doctorial studies. By Spring of
1963, Jane was back in Gombe. In July of 1963
Jane and Hugo came upon an unusual sight. Flos
rear end had turned pink, a sign that she was
ready to mate. Flo mated with Goliath and David
Greybeard (two male chimpanzees). Flo continued
to mate with every other male chimp that had come
to camp. After Flos mating cycle was over she
was exhausted. She was covered with scratches,
cuts, scrapes, and bite marks two pieces of her
ear were missing. In August, Jane published her
first article My Life Among the Chimpanzees
in the National Geographic. In 1965 Jane turned
31 years old. In Autumn 1972 Louis Leakey had
died of a heart attack with Janes mother at his
side. The day after Christmas in 1963, Jane
received a telegram from her family home in
Bournemouth. It was from Hugo Van Lawick, asking
her to marry him. The wedding took place on March
28, 1964. The newlyweds cut there honeymoon short
by three days to return to Gombe. When they got
back to Gombe they learned that Flo had given
birth several weeks earlier. They names the baby
Flint.
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Adulthood Continued
In the year 1967 Jane give birth to her first and
only child, Hugo Eric Louis Van Lawick. In 1974
Jane and Hugo got divorced. In 1975 Jane married
her second husband, the honorable Derek Bryceson.
In 1999 Hugo Van Lawick died. In 2001 Janes
mother died. In December 1986 around 500 primates
died in a libratory being treated for AIDS. In
1966 15 Kasekela chimps where afflicted with
Polio. As Jane moved to the twenty-first century
she showed no signs of slowing down. At 70, she
continues to travel almost 300 days a year.
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President, Contributions, Interesting Story,
Three Questions
Franklin D. Roosevelt was president when Jane
Goodall was born. He was president for 12 years
Jane has made discoveries about chimps like that
they aren't vegetarians and they use tools like
sticks to get food and other tools to do other
things. Jane figured out that chimps do actions
similar to how humans do, they punch, kick and
many other actions. Jane received the Franklin
Burr Award for her contribution to science in
1963 and the Albert Schweitzer Award from the
animal Welfare Institute in 1987 and the
Centennial Award from the National Geographic
Society and the Kyoto Prize for Science.
The most interesting story that I read in my book
is that she never really wanted to observe chimps
but her friend invited her to her farm and that
how it all started. Jane thought she was just
going to have regular jobs and she didn't think
she was going to be famous like she is now.  
Question 1 Why did you observe chimps
first? Question 2 What was your favorite chimp
that you observed in your lifetime? Question
3Does your son love animals like you do?
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Bibliography
Greene, M. (Unknown Year). Jane Goodall a
biography. Amherst, New York Prometheus Books