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Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge

Map of Kenya.

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (L.S.B. Leakey) (August 7, 1903 – October 1, 1972) was a Kenyan archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there. Having been a prime mover in establishing a tradition of palaeoanthropological inquiry, he was able to motivate the next generation to continue it, notably within his own family, many of whom also became prominent. Louis participated in national events of British East Africa and then Kenya in critical if less spectacular ways. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Louis_Leakey. ... Image File history File links Louis_Leakey. ... Olduvai Gorge, February 2006 Olduvai Gorge from space Topography of Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as The Cradle of Mankind. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 219th day of the year (220th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... For the history of humans on Earth, see History of the world. ... Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints. ... Leakey may refer to: Members of the Kenyan-British family of prominent anthropologists: Louis Leakey, anthropologist and archaeologist Mary Leakey, anthropologist and archaeologist Richard Leakey, paleontologist, archaeologist and conservationist Rea Leakey, British tank commander, during World War II Leakey, a city in Real County, Texas Nigel Leakey, a Kenyan sergeant... British East Africa was a British protectorate in East Africa, covering generally the area of present-day Kenya and lasting from 1890 to 1920, when it became the colony of Kenya. ...

In natural philosophy he asserted Charles Darwin's theory of evolution unswervingly and set about to prove Darwin's hypothesis that man arose in Africa. A religious man and a Christian, he said: Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature, known in Latin as philosophia naturalis, is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe that was regnant before the development of modern science. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

"Nothing I've ever found has contradicted the Bible. It's people with their finite minds who misread the Bible."^[1]

For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ...

White African

Louis' parents, Harry and Mary Bazett Leakey (called May by her friends), were British missionaries of the Christian faith in then British East Africa, now Kenya.^[2] Harry had taken a previously established post of the Church Mission Society among the Kikuyu at Kabete. The station was at that time a hut and two tents in the highlands north of Nairobi. Louis' earliest home had an earthen floor, a leaky thatched roof, rodents and insects, and no heating system except for charcoal braziers. The facilities improved but slowly. The mission, a center of activity, set up a clinic in one of the tents, and later a girl's school for African women. Harry was working on a translation of the Bible into Kikuyu. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... British East Africa was a British protectorate in East Africa, covering generally the area of present-day Kenya and lasting from 1890 to 1920, when it became the colony of Kenya. ... The Church Mission Society, known as the Church Missionary Society in Australia and New Zealand, is an evangelistic society working with the Anglican Church and other Protestant Christians around the world. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Kabete is where anthropologist Louis Leakey was born. ... Location of Nairobi Coordinates: , Country Province HQ City Hall Founded 1899 Constituencies of Nairobi List Makadara Kamukunji Starehe Langata Dagoretti Westlands Kasarani Embakasi Government  - Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa Area  - City 684 km² (264. ...

Louis had a younger brother, Douglas, and two older sisters, Gladys Leakey Beecher and Julia Leakey Barham. Louis' primary family came to contain also Miss Oakes (a governess) Miss Higgenbotham (another missionary), and Mariamu (a Kikuyu nurse). Inevitably, Louis grew up, played, and learned to hunt with Africans. He also learned to walk with the distinctive gait of the Kikuyu and speak their language fluently, as did his siblings. He was initiated into the tribe, an event of which he never spoke, as he was sworn to secrecy.^[3] This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Louis requested and was given permission to build and move into a hut, Kikuyu style, at the end of the garden. It was home to his personal collection of natural objects, such as birds' eggs and skulls. All the children developed a keen interest in and appreciation of the pristine natural surroundings in which they found themselves. They raised baby animals, later turning them over to zoos. Louis read a gift book, Days Before History, by H. R. Hall (1907), a juvenile fictional work illustrating the prehistory of Britain. He began to collect tools and was further encouraged in this activity by a role model, Arthur Loveridge, first curator (1914) of the Natural History Museum in Nairobi, predecessor of the Coryndon Museum. This interest may have predisposed him toward a career in archaeology.^[4] The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a collection of museums and monuments in Kenya, including the Nairobi Museum Galleries, near Uhuru highway in Nairobi, Kenya. ...

Neither Harry nor May were of strong constitution. From 1904-1906 the entire family lived at May's mother's house in Reading, Berkshire, England, while Harry recovered from neurasthenia, and again in 1911-1913, while May recovered from general frailty and exhaustion. During the latter stay, Harry bought a house in Boscombe.^[5] , Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ... Boscombe is a suburb of the much larger Bournemouth. ...

The formative years

His father's example

In Britain the Leakey children attended elementary school; in Africa they had a tutor, Miss Laing. They sat out World War I in Africa. When the sea lanes opened again, they returned to Boscombe, where Louis was sent to Weymouth Secondary School, a private boy's school in 1919 at age 16. In three years there he did not do well, and complained of rules he considered an infringement on his freedom and hazing by the other boys. Advised by one teacher to seek employment in a bank, he appealed to his English teacher, Mr. Tunstall, who started him in the application process to Cambridge. His excellent scores on the entrance exams won him a scholarship. Weymouth College is a Further Education college located in Weymouth, England. ...

Louis matriculated at his father's alma mater, Cambridge University, in 1922, intent on becoming a missionary to British East Africa. His son says:^[6] The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. ...

"Louis was in his early twenties when he decided to pursue a fossil-hunting career. Until then, he had intended to follow his father's example and be a Christian missionary in Kenya."

He preached Christian zeal to his fellow students and otherwise impressed Cambridge society with behavior that was considered eccentric.^[7] He was also an evolutionist and befriended some future naturalists.^[8] In 1923 his usual zeal led him into a severe concussion in a game of Rugby union. He was relieved of his academic duties. Rest and the outdoors were prescribed. Cerebral Concussion redirects here. ... For other uses, see Rugby (disambiguation). ...

Diversion from missionary work

In that year a position became available that pushed all thought of rest into the background. In 1922 the British had been awarded German East Africa as part of the settlement of World War I, subsequently applying the name Tanganyika. Within its territory the Germans had discovered a site rich in dinosaur fossils, Tendaguru. Louis was told by C. W. Hobley, a friend of the family, that the British Museum of Natural History was going to send a fossil-hunting expedition to it. Louis applied and was hired to locate the site and manage the administrative details. In 1924 the party under William E. Cutler departed for Africa. They never found a complete dinosaur skeleton. Louis was recalled from the site by Cambridge in 1925, while Cutler contracted blackwater fever and died nine months later. German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was Germanys colony in East Africa, including what is now Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanganyika, the mainland part of present Tanzania. ... Flag of Deutsch-Ostafrika (1885-1919) Flag of Tanganyika (1919-1961) Flag of the Republic of Tanganyika 1962–64 Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, after which it was named. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... The Tendaguru beds are a fossil rich fomation in Tanzania. ... C. W. Hobley, C.M.G. (1867-1947) was a pioneering British Colonial administrator in Kenya. ... The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, has an ornate terracotta facade typical of high Victorian architecture. ... Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria characterized by intravascular haemolysis, haemoglobinuria and kidney failure. ...

This critical experience changed Louis' career decision. Switching majors to anthropology, he found a new mentor in Alfred Cort Haddon, head of the department. In 1926 he graduated from there with "double firsts", or high honors, in anthropology and archaeology. He had used some of his preexisting qualifications; for example, Kikuyu was offered and accepted as the second modern language in which he was required to be proficient, even though no one there could test him on it. The university accepted an affidavit from a Kikuyu chief signed with a thumbprint. Alfred Cort Haddon (May 24, 1855-April 20, 1940) was an influential British anthropologist. ...

From 1925 on Louis lectured and wrote on African archaeological and palaeontological topics. On graduation he was such a respected figure that Cambridge sent him to East Africa to study prehistoric African humans. He excavated dozens of sites, undertaking for the first time a systematic study of the artifacts. Some of his culture names are still in use; for example, Elmenteitan.^[9]

Research fellow

St. John's College, Cambridge.

In 1927 Louis received a visit at a site called Gamble's Cave, near Lake Elmenteita, by two young ladies on a holiday, one of whom was Henrietta Wilfreda "Frida" Avern.^[10] She had done some course work in archaeology. Louis and she talked the entire night. They continued the relationship on his return to Cambridge and in 1928 they were married and set off together for Elmenteita. At that time he discovered the Acheulean site of Kariandusi, which he excavated in 1928, after collecting a team of interested associates.^[11] St Johns College, Cambridge New Court (19th-century) Photo by Harry Tubbs I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... St Johns College, Cambridge New Court (19th-century) Photo by Harry Tubbs I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Lake Elmenteita is an 18 sq km soda lake, in the eastern part of the Great Rift Valley. ... Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. ...

On the strength of his work there he obtained a research fellowship at St. John's College and returned to Cambridge in 1929 to do post-graduate work and to classify and prepare the finds from Elmenteita. His patron and mentor at Cambridge was now Arthur Keith. While cleaning two skeletons he had found he noticed a similarity to one found in Olduvai Gorge by Professor Hans Reck, a German national, whom Louis had met in 1925 in Germany while on business for Keith. College name The College of Saint John the Evangelist of the University of Cambridge Motto Souvent me Souvient (Latin: I often remember) Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist Established 1511 Location St. ... Sir Arthur Keith (February 5, 1866—January 7, 1955) was a Scottish anatomist and anthropologist, and was a leading figure in the study of Human fossils. ... The Olduvai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ...

Olduvai Gorge.

The geology of Olduvai was known and in 1913 Reck had extricated a skeleton from Bed II in the gorge wall. He argued that it must have the date of the bed, which was believed to 600,000 years, in the mid-Pleistocene. The public was not ready for this news. Man must have evolved or have been created long after then, was the general belief. Reck became involved in a media uproar. He was barred from going back to settle the question by the war and then the terms of the transfer of Tanganyika from Germany to Britain.^[12] In 1929 Louis visited Berlin to talk to the now skeptical Reck. Noting an Acheulean tool in Reck's collection of artifacts from Olduvai, he bet Reck he could find ancient stone tools at Olduvai within 24 hours.^[13] Image File history File linksMetadata Olduvai_Gorge. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Olduvai_Gorge. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ... Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. ...

Meanwhile Frida worked on illustrations for The Stone Age Culture of Kenya Colony. Louis was given the PhD in 1930 at age 27. His first child, a daughter, Priscilla Muthoni Leakey, was born in 1931. His headaches and epilepsy returned in the excitement and he was prescribed Luminal, which he took the rest of his life. Phenobarbital (INN) or phenobarbitone (former BAN) is a barbiturate, first marketed as Luminal by Friedr. ...

Reversals of fortune

The Defense of Reck

In November, 1931, Louis led an expedition to Olduvai, including Reck,^[14] whom he allowed to enter the gorge first. Louis did find Acheulean tools within the first 24 hours, costing Reck ten pounds on the bet. They verified the provenance of the 1913 find, now Olduvai Man. Non-humanoid fossils and tools were extracted from the ground in large numbers. Frida delayed joining him and was less enthusiastic about him on behalf of Priscilla. She did arrive eventually, however, and Louis put her to work. Frida's site became FLK, for Frida Leakey's karongo ("gully"). The Olduvai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ...

Back in Cambridge, the skeptics were not impressed. To find supporting evidence of the antiquity of Reck's Olduvai Man, Louis returned to Africa, excavating at Kanam and Kanjera. He easily found more fossils, which he named Homo kanamensis.^[15] While he was gone, the opposition worked up some "evidence" of the intrusion of Olduvai Man into an earlier layer, evidence that seemed convincing at the time, but is missing and unverifiable now. On his return Louis' finds were carefully examined by a committee of 26 scientists and were tentatively accepted as valid. Kanam is a panchayat town in Toothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. ...

Scandal

With Frida's dowry money, the Leakeys bought a large brick house in Girton near Cambridge, which they named "the Close." She suffered from morning sickness most of the time and was unable to work on the illustrations for Louis' second book, Adam's Ancestors. At a dinner party given in his honor after a lecture of his at the Royal Anthropological Institute, Gertrude Caton-Thompson introduced him to her own illustrator, the twenty-year-old Mary Nicol. Girton is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. ... The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) (founded 1871) is the oldest anthropological society in the world. ... Gertrude Caton-Thompson (February 1, 1888 - April 18, 1985) was an influential English archaeologist at a time when participation by women in the discipline was uncommon. ... Replica of an Australopithecus boisei skull discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 Mary Leakey (February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. ...

Louis convinced Mary to take on the illustration of his book. A few months later companionship turned to romance. Colin Leakey was born in December, 1933, and in January, 1934, Louis asked Frida for a divorce. She would not sue for divorce until 1936.^[16] Doctor Colin Louis Avern Leakey MA (Cantab. ...

A panel at Cambridge investigated his morals. Grants dried up, but his mother raised enough money for another expedition to Olduvai, Kanam and Kanjera, the latter two on the Winam Gulf.^[17] His previous work there was questioned by P. G. H. Boswell,^[18] whom he invited to verify the sites for himself. Arriving at Kanam and Kanjera in 1935, they found that the iron markers Louis had used to mark the sites had been removed by the Luo tribe for use as harpoons and the sites could not now be located. To make matters worse, all the photos Louis took were ruined by a light leak in the camera. After an irritating and fruitless two-month search, Boswell left for England, promising, as Louis understood it, not to publish a word until Louis returned. Winam Gulf is a significant extension of northeastern Lake Victoria into western Kenya. ... The Lwo (also Lwoo or Luo) are a family of linguistically-related ethnic groups (tribes) which live in an area that stretches from the south of Sudan, through Northern Uganda and Eastern Congo (DRC), into Western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. ...

Boswell immediately set out to publish as many words as he was able, beginning with an article in Nature dated March 9, 1935, destroying Reck's and Louis' dates of the fossils and questioning Louis' competence. Louis on his return accused Boswell of treachery, but Boswell now had public opinion on his side. Louis was not only forced to retract the accusation but also to recant his support of Reck.^[19] Louis was through at Cambridge. Even his mentors turned on him. is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ...

On the road in Africa

Meeting Mary in Africa, he proceeded to Olduvai with a small party. Mary joined him under a stigma but her skill and competence eventually won over the other participants. Louis' parents continued to urge him to return to Frida, and would pay for everyone in the party, but not Mary. Louis and his associates did the groundwork for future excavation at Olduvai, uncovering dozens of sites for a broad sampling, as was his method. They were named after the excavator: SHK (Sam Howard's karongo), BK (Peter Bell's), SWK (Sam White's), MNK (Mary Nicol's). Louis and Mary conducted a temporary clinic for the Maasai, made preliminary investigations of Laetoli, and ended by studying the rock paintings at the Kisese/Cheke region.^[20] Language(s) Maa (ɔl Maa) Religion(s) Monotheism including Christianity Related ethnic groups Samburu The Masai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ...

The Village of Nasty

Louis and Mary returned to England in 1935 without positions or any place to stay except Mary's mother's apartment. They soon leased Steen Cottage in Great Munden^[21] and lived without heat, electricity, or plumbing, fetching water from a well, huddling before a fireplace and writing by oil lantern. They lived happily in poverty for eighteen months at this low point of their fortunes, visited at first only by Mary's relatives. Louis gardened for subsistence and exercise and improved the house and grounds. He appealed at last to the Royal Society, who relented with a small grant to continue work on his collection. For other uses, see Royal Society (disambiguation). ...

Our Man in British East Africa

The Return of the Native Son

Finally, Frida released Louis and he and Mary were married on Christmas Eve, 1936, in a civil ceremony at the registry office of Ware. The witness, Peter Koinange, the son of a Kikuyu chief, was in Britain doing postgraduate studies at St. John's. Louis got some royalties and advances on books, and snagged the Munro lectures at Edinburgh University for 1936.^[22] For other uses, see Ware (disambiguation). ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ...

Louis had already involved himself in Kikuyu tribal affairs in 1928, taking a stand against female genital cutting. He got into a shouting match in Kikuyu one evening with Jomo Kenyatta, who was lecturing on the topic. R. Copeland at Oxford recommended he apply to the Rhodes Trust for a grant to write a study of the Kikuyu and it was given late in 1936 along with a salary for two years. In January 1937 the Leakeys shook the dust off their feet and travelled to Kenya. Colin would not see his father for 20 years. Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), female circumcision or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic... Jomo Kenyatta (October 20, 1889 – August 22, 1978) served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya. ... Rhodes House from South Parks Road. ...

Louis returned to Kiambaa near Nairobi and persuaded Senior Chief Koinange, who designated a committee of chiefs, to help him describe the Kikuyu the way they had been. Mary excavated at Waterfall Cave.^[23] She fell ill with double pneumonia and lay at death's door for two weeks in the hospital in Nairobi, during which time her mother was sent for. Contrary to expectation she recovered and began another excavation at Hyrax Hill and then Ngoro River Cave. Louis got an extension of his grant, which he used partially for fossil-hunting. Leakey discoveries began to appear in the newspapers again. Kiambu is a town in Central Province, Kenya. ... Location of Nairobi Coordinates: , Country Province HQ City Hall Founded 1899 Constituencies of Nairobi List Makadara Kamukunji Starehe Langata Dagoretti Westlands Kasarani Embakasi Government  - Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa Area  - City 684 km² (264. ...

Tensions between the Kikuyu and the settlers increased alarmingly. Louis jumped into the fray as an exponent of the middle ground. In Kenya: Contrasts and Problems, he angered the settlers by proclaiming Kenya could never be a "white man's country."

The fossil police

The government offered Louis work as a policeman in intelligence, which he could not afford to refuse. He traveled the country as a pedlar, reporting on the talk. When Britain went to war in September, 1939, the Kenyan government drafted Louis into its African intelligence service.^[24] Apart from some bumbling around, during which he and some settlers stalked each other as possible saboteurs of the Sagana Railway Bridge,^[25] his first task was to supply and arm Ethiopian guerrillas against the Italian invaders of their country. He created a clandestine network using his childhood friends among the Kikuyu. They also hunted fossils on the sly.

Louis conducted interrogations, analyzed handwriting, wrote radio broadcasts and took on regular police investigations. He loved a good mystery of any sort. The white leadership of the King's African Rifles used him extensively to clear up many cultural mysteries; for example, he helped an officer remove a curse he had inadvertently put on his men.^[26]

Mary continued to find and excavate sites. Jonathan Leakey was born in 1940. She worked in the Coryndon Memorial Museum (later called the National Museums of Kenya) where Louis joined her as an unpaid honorary curator in 1941. Their life was a menage of police work and archaeology. They investigated Rusinga Island and Olorgesailie. At the latter site they were assisted by a team of Italian experts recruited from the prisoners of war and paroled for the purpose.^[27] The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a collection of museums and monuments in Kenya, including the Nairobi Museum Galleries, near Uhuru highway in Nairobi, Kenya. ... Rusinga Island lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. ...

In 1942 the Italian menace ended, but the Japanese began to reconnoiter with a view toward landing in force. Louis found himself in counter-intelligence work, which he performed with zest and imagination. Deborah was born, but died at three months. They lived in a rundown and bug infested Nairobi home, provided by the museum. Jonathan was attacked by army ants in his crib.^[28]

The turn of the tide

In 1944 Richard Leakey was born. In 1945 the family's income from police work all but vanished. By now Louis was getting plenty of job offers but he chose to stay on in Kenya as Curator of the Coryndon Museum, with an annual salary and a house, but more importantly, to continue palaeoanthropological research. Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ...

In January, 1947, Louis conducted the first Pan-African Congress of Prehistory at Nairobi. Sixty scientists from 26 countries attended, delivering papers and visiting the Leakey sites. The conference restored Louis to the scientific fold and made him a major figure in it. With the money that now poured in Louis undertook the famous expeditions of 1948 and beyond at Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, where Mary discovered the most complete Proconsul fossil up to that time. Rusinga Island lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. ... For other places with the same name, see Lake Victoria (disambiguation). ...

Charles Boise donated money for a boat to be used for transport on Lake Victoria, "The Miocene Lady." Its famous skipper, Hassan Salimu, was later to deliver Jane Goodall to Gombe. Philip Leakey was born in 1949. In 1950, Louis was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University. Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, PhD, (born 3 April 1934 as Valerie Jane Morris Goodall) is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. ... Philip Leakey (born June 21, 1949) is a former member of the Kenyan Parliament. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

Kenyan affairs

While the Leakeys were at Lake Victoria, the Kikuyu struck at the European settlers of the Kenyan highlands, who seemed to have the upper hand and were insisting on a "white" government of a "white" Africa. Approximately 1 million Kikuyu were being harassed by about 32,000 settlers. In 1949 the Kikuyu formed a secret society, the Mau Mau, which attacked settlers and especially loyalist Kikuyu. The Mau Mau Uprising was an insurgency by Kenyan rebels against the British colonial administration from 1952 to 1960. ...

Louis had attempted to warn Sir Philip Mitchell, governor of the colony, that nocturnal meetings and forced oaths were not Kikuyu customs and foreboded violence, but was ignored. Now he found himself pulled away from anthropology to investigate the Mau Mau. During this period his life was threatened and a reward placed on his head. The Leakeys began to pack pistols, termed "European National Dress." The government placed him under 24-hour guard. Sir Philip Euen Mitchell (1890 – 1964) was a British Colonial administrator who server as Governor of Uganda (1935 – 1940) and Governor of Fiji and High Com­missioner for the Western Pacific (1942 – 1945), and Governor of Kenya (1944 – 1952). ...

In 1952, after a massacre of loyal chiefs, the government arrested Jomo Kenyatta, president of the Kenya African Union. Louis was summoned to be a court interpreter, but withdrew after an accusation of mistranslation because of prejudice against the defendant. He returned on request to translate documents only. Because of lack of evidence linking Kenyatta to the Mau Mau, although convicted, he did not receive the death penalty, but was sentenced to several years of hard labor and banned from Kenya. Jomo Kenyatta (October 20, 1889 – August 22, 1978) served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya. ... Kenya African Union was a political organization that was meant to voice Kenyan voice to Britain, the colonial government of the time. ...

The government brought in British troops and formed a home guard of 20,000 Kikuyu. During this time Louis played a difficult and contradictory role. He sided with the settlers, serving as their spokesman and intelligence officer, helping to ferret out bands of guerillas. On the other hand he continued to advocate for the Kikuyu in his book, Defeating Mau Mau and numerous talks and articles. He recommended a multi-racial government, land reform in the highlands, a wage hike for the Kikuyu, and many other reforms, most of which were eventually adopted.

The British realized the rebellion was being directed from urban centers, instituted military law and rounded up the committees. Following Louis' suggestion, thousands of Kikuyu were placed in re-education camps and resettled in new villages. The rebellion continued from bases under Mt. Kenya until 1956, when, deprived of its leadership and supplies, it had to disperse. The state of emergency lasted until 1960. In 1963 Kenya became independent, with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister.^[29]

Palaeoanthropologist par excellence

Vindication at Olduvai

Louis and Mary spent all the time they could at Olduvai, starting in 1951. So far they had discovered only tools. A trial trench in Bed II at BK in 1951 was followed by a more extensive excavation in 1952. They found what Louis termed an Olduwan "slaughter-house", an ancient bog where animals had been trapped and butchered. Louis was so carried away that he worked without his hat and his hair was bleached white from the sun. They stopped in 1953.

In 1955 they excavated again with Jean Brown. She related that he preferred to be called Louis, was absent-minded, once had everyone looking for spectacles that were around his neck, wore pants with the buttons off and shoes with holes in them, charged about everywhere and once collapsed unconscious. He was completely happy.^[30]

In 1959 they decided to excavate Bed I. While Louis was sick in camp, Mary discovered Zinjanthropus at FLK, which Mary called "Our Man", and became "Dear Boy" and "Zinj." The question was whether it was a previous genus discovered by Robert Broom, Paranthropus, which Broom had taken not to be in the human line, or a different one, in it. Louis opted for Zinj, a decision opposed by Wilfrid Le Gros Clark, but one which attracted the attention of Melville Bell Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society. That contact resulted in an article in National Geographic^[31] and a hefty grant to continue work at Olduvai. Species †Paranthropus aethiopicus †Paranthropus boisei †Paranthropus robustus The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus, were bipedal hominins that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominins (Australopithecus). ... Image:Broom R.jpg Robert Broom Prof. ... Species †Paranthropus aethiopicus †Paranthropus boisei †Paranthropus robustus The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus (Greek para beside, Greek anthropos human), were bipedal hominins that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominins (Australopithecus). ... Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark (1895-1971) was an English anatomist and surgeon, today best remembered for his contribution to the study of human evolution. ... Melville Bell Grosvenor was the president of the National Geographic Society and editor of National Geographic Magazine from 1957 to 1969. ... This article is about the organization. ...

Also in 1960 Jack Evernden and Garniss Curtis, young geophysicists, dated Bed I to 1.75 mya. The world was stunned. Zinj was far older than anyone had imagined. Scientists swarmed to Africa. Reck and Louis were completely vindicated, too late for Reck, who had died in 1937. Louis had proved Darwin right.^[32]

The Leakey circus

In 1960, unable to leave the museum except on weekends, Louis appointed Mary director of excavation at Olduvai. She brought in a staff of Kamba tribesmen, instead of Kikuyu, who, she felt, took advantage of Louis. The first, Muteva Musomba, had kept her children's ponies. He recruited Kamoya Kimeu among others. Mary set up Camp 5 under Jonathan's direction. He was 19. From then on she had her own staff and associates. There is also Kemba in Gabon, see Kemba, Gabon Mukamba, pre 1923 The Kamba (Mukamba in singular, Akamba in the plural) are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. ... Kamoya Kimeu, (born c. ...

Mary picked and sieved at the site from early morning dressed in old clothes, chain smoking cigarettes, always surrounded by her Dalmatian dogs. She and Louis communicated by radio. On weekends he drove non-stop at high speed the 357 miles between Olduvai and Nairobi. The teen-age boys, Richard and Philip, were on site holidays and vacations. Louis invited them and Irven DeVore to eat a raw rat so that he could compare the result to some Hominid coprolites. He said to DeVore, "My dear boy, let me make you famous." DeVore and the boys demurred.^[33] Irven DeVore is an anthropologist and Curator of Primatology at Harvard Universitys Peabody Museum. ...

Their home in Nairobi was a circus, figuratively speaking, when they were there. Dinner guests were frequent. Important guests stayed for weeks if they could stand it. They shared the quarters and the dinner table with the Dalmatians, hyraxes, a monkey, a civet cat, an African eagle owl, tropical fish, rattlesnakes, vipers and a python. The extended families of twenty African staff lived in cinderblock huts in the yard. Mary had switched to cigars and the ashes often fell into the food. Both Louis and Mary cooked. Louis never stopped talking; his stories were endless.^[34] He literally ran through the day, making long lists of things to be done, which he never completed. He drove recklessly through the streets of Nairobi, often reading and writing as he drove. The Dalmatian is a breed of dog, noted for its white coat with either black or liver spots. ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (from Greek shrewmouse; Afrikaans: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ...

Floruit

Jonathan achieved some brief fame before he quit palaeoanthropology altogether. He started his own site, "Jonny's site" in the Leakey lingo, FLK-NN. There he discovered two skull fragments without the Australopithecine sagittal crest, which Mary connected with Broom's and Robinson's Telanthropus. The problem with it was its contemporaneity with Zinj. Mailed photographs, Le Gros Clark retorted casually "Shades of Piltdown." Louis cabled him immediately and had some strong words at this suggestion of his incompetence. Clark apologized.^[35] This term australopithecine refers to two very closely related hominin genera: Australopithecus Paranthropus When used alone, the term refers to both genera together. ... Canine skull showing sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. ...

Not long after in 1960 Louis, his son Philip and Ray Pickering discovered a fossil he termed "Chellean Man", as it was in context with Olduwan tools, the first such find. After reconstruction Louis and Mary called it "Pinhead." It was subsequently included with Homo erectus and was in fact contemporaneous with Paranthropus, which on that account cannot have been in the human line. For many years Louis believed erectus was the user of the tools and Australopithecus was not. It is now conceded that both Hominids used them. Species †Paranthropus aethiopicus †Paranthropus boisei †Paranthropus robustus The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus (Greek para beside, Greek anthropos human), were bipedal hominins that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominins (Australopithecus). ... For the song by Modest Mouse, see Sad Sappy Sucker. ...

In 1961 Louis got a salary as well as a grant from National Geographic and turned over the acting directorship of Coryndon to a subordinate. He created the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology on the same grounds, moved his collections to it, and appointed himself director. This was his new operations center. He opened another excavation at Fort Ternan on Lake Victoria. Shortly after, Heselon discovered Kenyapithecus wickeri, the species name from the owner of the property, which Louis promptly celebrated with George Gaylord Simpson, who happened to be present, aboard the Miocene Lady with Leakey Safari Specials, a drink made of condensed milk and cognac. The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ... Binomial name †Kenyapithecus wickeri Leakey, 1962 Kenyapithecus wickeri was a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. ... George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 - October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cognac is a commune in the French département of Charente, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ...

In 1962 Louis was visiting Olduvai when Ndibo Mbuika discovered the first tooth of Homo habilis at MNK. Louis and Mary thought it was female and named her Cinderella, or Cindy. Phillip Tobias identified Jonny's Child with it and Raymond Dart came up with the name Homo habilis at Louis' request, which Tobias translated as "handyman."^[36] It was seen as intermediary between gracile Australopithecus and Homo.^[37] Binomial name Leakey et al, 1964 Homo habilis (pronounced ) (handy man, skillful person) is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2. ... Phillip Vallentine Tobias is a South African palaeoanthropologist. ... Raymond Dart, holding the Taung Child skull Raymond Dart (February 4, 1893–22 November 1988) was an Australian anatomist and anthropologist best known for his discovery in 1924 of a fossil of Australopithecus at Taung in Northwestern South Africa. ... For the song by Modest Mouse, see Sad Sappy Sucker. ...

Leakey's Angels

Main article: Leakey's Angels

One of Louis's greatest legacies stems from his role in fostering field research of primates in their natural habitats, which he understood as key to unraveling the mysteries of human evolution. He personally chose three female researchers, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas, who were later dubbed 'Leakey's Angels' and each went on to become important scholars in the field of primatology. Leakeys Angels is a relatively recent name given to three women sent by archaeologist Louis Leakey to study primates in their natural environment. ... Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, PhD, (born 3 April 1934 as Valerie Jane Morris Goodall) is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. ... Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. ... Image:Birute. ... Leakeys Angels is a relatively recent name given to three women sent by archaeologist Louis Leakey to study primates in their natural environment. ...

The last years

Kenya became independent at 12:00 p.m. on December 12, 1963, with Jomo Kenyatta as the first prime minister. The settlers were already leaving the country in large numbers. Kenyatta saw that he had to act swiftly to prevent a descent into chaos. He took a conciliatory view. There were a few deportations, but no reprisals. Louis had felt considerable trepidation about the future of palaeoanthropology in Kenya. A meeting was arranged between him and Jomo at the suggestion of the last colonial governor, Malcom MacDonald. He was introduced by his old friend, Peter Koinange. They spoke in Kikuyu. The meeting ended with an embrace and reassurances.^[38] is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ...

During his final years Louis became famous as a lecturer in the United States and United Kingdom. He brought audiences cheering to their feet. He did not personally excavate any longer, as he was crippled with arthritis, for which he had a hip replacement in 1968. He raised funds and directed his family and associates. In Kenya he was an indispensable facilitator for the hundreds of scientists then exploring the East African Rift system for fossils. Without his say-so, permits could not be obtained and access to museum collections was denied. Once he gave permission, his advice was invaluable. Arthritis (from Greek arthro-, joint + -itis, inflammation; plural: arthritides) is a group of conditions where there is damage caused to the joints of the body. ... Northern section of the Great Rift Valley. ...

In 1963 he helped Ruth De Ette get started at a site in the Calico Hills of the Mojave Desert in California. The date then accepted for the arrival of humans in the Americas was about 12,000 BCE. On the basis of the time required for the evolution and distribution of native American languages, Louis hypothesized that the arrival must have been thousands of years previously. He encouraged Ruth to view the apparent artifacts she was finding as older than 100,000 years.

Mary did not share his visionary view. She was increasingly disrespectful, viewing him as incompetent, from 1963 on. The old intimacy was gone. Her professional opposition began over Calico Man. Under the rationale of trying to stop Louis from making a mistake that would tarnish his reputation, she persuaded the National Geographic Society to refrain from publishing Calico and pull funding from the project, but Louis found other means. On March 26, 1968, Alan and Helen O'Brien of Newport Beach, California, and some prominent Californians formed the Leakey Foundation. When Louis stayed with them when he was in California, the O'Briens noticed that he was very much underpaid on the lecture circuit. From then on Louis worked with them in fund-raising. March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Mary's opposition soon turned into a major schism in the palaeoanthropological village. For example, in 1968 Louis refused an honorary doctorate from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, primarily because of apartheid in South Africa. Mary accepted one. Now it was Louis' turn to be concerned about her reputation. The two still cared about each other, but were apart and conducted different professional lives. ^[39]

In the last few years Louis' health began to fail more seriously. He had his first heart attacks and spent six months in the hospital. An empathy over health brought him and Dian Fossey together for a brief romance, which she broke off. Richard began to assume more and more of his father's responsibilities, which Louis resisted, but in the end was forced to accept. Everything bad seemed to happen to him in a run of unfortunate luck: he had more heart problems, he was swarmed by bees and nearly killed, he had a stroke, he was involved in controversy over Calico man, and he had to brook Mary's opposition. One good thing that happened is that he found increasing support and comfort in his friend, Vanne Goodall (mother of Jane Goodall), whose London apartment Louis visited when he could. ^[40] Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. ... Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, PhD, (born 3 April 1934 as Valerie Jane Morris Goodall) is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. ...

Death and legacy

Passing

On October 1, 1972, Louis was stricken with a heart attack in Vanne Goodall's apartment in London. Vanne sat up all night with him in St. Stephen's Hospital and left at 9:00 a.m. He died at 9:30. He was 69. is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Heart attack redirects here. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Mary wanted to cremate Louis and fly the ashes back to Nairobi. Richard intervened. As Louis was a Kikuyu, he ought to be buried in Kikuyuland. He was flown home and interred at Limuru near the graves of his parents. Limuru is a city in central Kenya. ...

In denial, the family did not face the question of a memorial marker for a year. When Richard went to place a stone on the grave he found one already there, courtesy of Rosalie Osborn. The inscription was signed with the letters, ILYFA, "I'll love you forever always", which Rosalie used to place on her letters to him. Richard left it in place. ^[41]

Prominent organizations

• 1958. Louis founded the Tigoni Primate research Center with Cynthia Booth on her farm north of Nairobi. Later it was the National Primate Research Center, currently the Institute of Primate Research, now in Nairobi. As the Tigoni center, it funded Leakey's Angels.
• 1961. Louis created the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology on the same grounds as Coryndon Museum, appointing himself director.
• 1968. Louis assisted with the founding of The Leakey Foundation, to ensure the legacy of his life's work in the study of human origins. The Leakey Foundation exists today as the number one funder of human origins research in the United States.

Jan. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Prominent family members

Louis Leakey was married to Mary Leakey, who made the noteworthy discovery of fossil footprints at Laetoli. Found preserved in volcanic ash in Tanzania, they are the earliest record of bipedal gait. Replica of an Australopithecus boisei skull discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 Mary Leakey (February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ...

He is also the father of paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and the botanist Colin Leakey. Louis' cousin, Nigel Gray Leakey, was a recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War II. Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints. ... Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ... Doctor Colin Louis Avern Leakey MA (Cantab. ... Nigel Gray Leakey was a Kenyan recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ... For other uses, see Victoria Cross (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Books by Louis Leakey

Louis's books are listed below.^[42] The gaps between books are filled by too many articles to list. It was Louis who began the Leakey tradition of publishing in Nature. Nature is a prominent scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. ...

The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark (1895-1971) was an English anatomist and surgeon, today best remembered for his contribution to the study of human evolution. ... The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, has an ornate terracotta facade typical of high Victorian architecture. ... Chopper with a Simple edge. ...

Notes

Canons, Bruges A Canon of the Seminary, Sint Niklaas, Flanders. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[3] in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communions thirty-eight independent national churches. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904–4 July 1980) was a British anthropologist, social scientist, linguist and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. ... The Mesolithic (Greek mesos=middle and lithos=stone or the Middle Stone Age[1]) was a period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age. ... Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs (February 11, 1908 – November 11, 1999) was a British explorer. ... Imperial College London is a university in London and is the United Kingdoms best-known scientific academic institution. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Binomial name Leakey et al, 1964 Homo habilis (pronounced ) (handy man, skillful person) is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ... Nasty is a village in Hertfordshire in England. ... Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ... Binomial name Leakey et al, 1964 Homo habilis (pronounced ) (handy man, skillful person) is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2. ... Replica of an Australopithecus boisei skull discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 Mary Leakey (February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. ...

References

• Virginia Morell, Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings , Copyright 1995.
• Mary Bowman-Kruhm, The Leakeys: a Biography, Copyright 2005, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-32985-0. Online preview found at^[1] in Google Books.

See also

• Calico Early Man Site
• Leakey family
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)