Best known as the young, golden-haired woman living alongside humankind's closest relatives, this scientist-turned-activist has devoted her life to understanding, and working to save chimpanzees from near extinction.
Her unorthodox methods of observation revolutionized how scientists conduct animal research in the wild; debunked long-held assumptions about primate behavior, and showed the world how much we have in common with the animal kingdom.
Let's learn more about the legendary British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace, Jane Goodall.
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in London, England on April 3,1934. She was the oldest of two girls, born to father Mortimor, an engineer-turned-race car driver, and to mother Vanne, a successful novelist.
Exactly four years following Jane's birth, her younger sister Judith was born and completes the family.
This happy foursome would be short-lived.
With World War II declared in England in 1939, Jane's father enlisted and was posted to France.
From then on, he would become a distant figure in Jane's life, only rarely coming home when he was on leave.
After the allies declared victory and the war was over, the Goodall marriage ended in divorce.
A few years before Jane must have known it was coming, the youngster writing a heartfelt letter to her father, pleading him to wait until she was 12. The divorce of Jane's parents may have had a greater impact on her if her mother hadn't been such an influential and supportive parent.
