Friday, October 17, 2025

A00223 - Jane Goodall, Primatologist and Anthropologist

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Dame
Jane Goodall
DBE
Headshot of Jane Goodall. She is an elderly woman with tied-up light hair.
Goodall in 2015
Born
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall

3 April 1934
London, England
Died1 October 2025 (aged 91)
Los Angeles, California, US
EducationNewnham College, Cambridge (PhD)
Known for
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1964; div. 1974)​
Derek Bryceson
​
​
(m. 1975; died 1980)​
Children1
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsEthology
ThesisBehaviour of Free-Living Chimpanzees  (1966)
Doctoral advisorRobert Hinde[1]

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Jane Goodall (born April 3, 1934, London, England—died October 1, 2025, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) was a British ethologist, known for her exceptionally detailed and long-term research on the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

Jane Goodall
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Jane GoodallJane Goodall, 2004.
Jane Goodall
2 of 2
Jane Goodall

Goodall, who was interested in animal behavior from an early age, left school at age 18. She worked as a secretary and as a film production assistant until she gained passage to Africa. Once there, Goodall began assisting paleontologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey. Her association with Leakey led eventually to her establishment in June 1960 of a camp in the Gombe Stream Game Reserve (now a national park) so that she could observe the behavior of chimpanzees in the region. In 1964 she married a Dutch photographer Baron Hugo van Lawick who had been sent in 1962 to Tanzania to film her work; the couple had a son in 1967 and later divorced.

The University of Cambridge in 1965 awarded Goodall a Ph.D. in ethology; she was one of very few candidates to receive a Ph.D. without having first possessed an A.B. degree. After her divorce she married Derek Bryceson, who was then member of Tanzania’s parliament and director of the Tanzanian national park system. He helped establish Gombe Stream National Park before his death of cancer in 1980.

Except for short periods of absence, Goodall remained in Gombe until 1975, often directing the fieldwork of other doctoral candidates. In 1977 she cofounded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation (commonly called the Jane Goodall Institute) in California; the center later moved its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area. She also created various other initiatives, including Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots (1991), a youth service program.

Jane Goodall
Jane GoodallBritish ethologist Jane Goodall with chimpanzee Freud at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.

Over the years Goodall was able to correct a number of misunderstandings about chimpanzees. She found, for example, that the animals are omnivorous, not vegetarian; that they are capable of making and using tools; and, in short, that they have a set of hitherto unrecognized complex and highly developed social behaviors. Goodall wrote a number of books and articles about various aspects of her work, notably In the Shadow of Man (1971). She summarized her years of observation in The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (1986). Goodall continued to write and lecture about environmental and conservation issues into the early 21st century. In 2002 she became a UN Messenger of Peace.

The recipient of numerous honors, Goodall was created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2003. She also was awarded the Templeton Prize (2021), the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication (2022), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2025). Jane, a documentary about her life and work, appeared in 2017.

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Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall (née Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025) was an English primatologist and anthropologist.[3] Regarded as a pioneer in primate ethology, and described by many publications as "the world's preeminent chimpanzee expert", she was best known for more than six decades of field research on the social and family life of wild chimpanzees in the Kasakela chimpanzee community at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania.[4][5][6] Beginning in 1960, under the mentorship of the palaeontologist Louis Leakey, Goodall's research demonstrated that chimpanzees share many key traits with humans, such as using tools, having complex emotions, forming lasting social bonds, engaging in organised warfare, and passing on knowledge across generations, which redefined the traditional view that humans are uniquely different from other animals.[7]

In 1965 Goodall was awarded a PhD in ethology from the University of Cambridge. In the 1960s Goodall published several accounts of her research in Tanzania, including a series of articles in National Geographic. Her first book-length study, In the Shadow of Man (1971), was later translated into 48 languages. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to promote wildlife conservation, followed by the Roots & Shoots youth programme in 1991, which grew into a global network. Goodall also established wildlife sanctuaries and reforestation projects in Africa and campaigned for the ethical treatment of animals in animal testing, animal husbandry and captivity. Goodall was appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2002, and advised organisations such as Save the Chimps and the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks.

Throughout her career Goodall wrote 32 books, 15 of them for children, and was the subject of over 40 films. She remained an active lecturer, travelling extensively to promote conservation and climate action. Goodall was an honorary member of the World Future Council. Among other honours, she was a recipient of the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal, the Kyoto Prize, the Templeton Prize and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2003 she was named a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Goodall served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project from 2022 until her death.[8][9]

Early life

Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in April 1934 in Hampstead, London,[10][11] to Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall (1907–2001), a businessman, and Margaret Myfanwe Joseph (1906–2000),[12] a novelist from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire,[13] who wrote under the pen name Vanne Morris-Goodall.[10]

After the family moved to Bournemouth, Goodall attended Uplands School, an independent school in nearby Poole.[10]

When she was a child, Goodall's father gave her a stuffed toy chimpanzee named Jubilee as an alternative to a teddy bear. Goodall had said her fondness for it sparked her early love of animals, commenting, "My mother's friends were horrified by this toy, thinking it would frighten me and give me nightmares." Jubilee was still on Goodall's dresser in London as of the year 2000.[14]

Africa

Goodall had always been drawn to animals and Africa, which brought her to the farm of a friend in the White Highlands in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya in 1957.[15] From there, she obtained work as a secretary, and acting on her friend's advice, she telephoned Louis Leakey,[16] the Kenyan archaeologist and palaeontologist, with no other thought than to make an appointment to discuss animals. Leakey, believing that the study of existing great apes could provide indications of the behaviour of early hominids,[17] was looking for a chimpanzee researcher, though he kept the idea to himself. Instead, he proposed that Goodall work for him as a secretary. After obtaining approval from his co-researcher and wife, the palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey, Louis sent Goodall to Olduvai Gorge in Tanganyika (later part of Tanzania), where he laid out his plans.[18]

In 1958 Leakey sent Goodall to London to study primate behaviour with Osman Hill and primate anatomy with John Napier.[19] Leakey raised funds, and on 14 July 1960 Goodall went to Gombe Stream National Park, becoming the first of what would come to be called the Trimates.[20] She was accompanied by her mother, whose presence was necessary to satisfy the requirements of David Anstey, chief warden, who was concerned for their safety.[15] Goodall credits her mother with encouraging her to pursue a career in primatology, a male-dominated field at the time. Goodall has said that women were not accepted in the field when she started her research in the late 1950s.[21] As of 2019 the field of primatology is made up almost evenly of men and women, in part thanks to the trailblazing work of Goodall and her encouragement of young women to join the field.[22]

Louis Leakey arranged funding, and in 1962 he sent Goodall, who had no degree, to the University of Cambridge.[18] She was the eighth person to be allowed to study for a PhD at Cambridge without first having obtained a bachelor's degree.[23] She attended Newnham College, Cambridge, to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in ethology.[24][1][15][25][26] Her thesis was completed in 1966 under the supervision of Robert Hinde on the Behaviour of free-living chimpanzees,[1] detailing her first five years of study at the Gombe Reserve.[10][25]

On 19 June 2006 the Open University of Tanzania awarded her an honorary Doctor of Science degree.[27] She became an honorary fellow of both Newnham College (her alma mater) and Darwin College, Cambridge, in 2019, when she was also awarded an honorary doctorate.[28]

Work

Research at Gombe Stream National Park

Goodall in conversation with Silver Donald Cameron, discussing her work
A sculpture of Jane Goodall and David Greybeard outside the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago

Goodall studied chimpanzee social and family life beginning with the Kasakela chimpanzee community in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, in 1960.[29][30] She found that "it isn't only human beings who have personality, who are capable of rational thought [and] emotions like joy and sorrow."[30] She also observed behaviours often considered human, such as hugs, kisses, pats on the back, and even tickling.[30] Goodall insisted that these gestures are evidence of "the close, supportive, affectionate bonds that develop between family members and other individuals within a community, which can persist throughout a life span of more than 50 years."[30]

Goodall's research at Gombe Stream challenged two long-standing beliefs of the day: that only humans could construct and use tools, and that chimpanzees were vegetarians.[30] While observing one chimpanzee feeding at a termite mound, she watched him repeatedly place stalks of grass into termite holes, then remove them from the hole covered with clinging termites, effectively "fishing" for termites. The chimpanzees would also take twigs from trees and strip off the leaves to make the twig more effective, a form of object modification that is the rudimentary beginnings of toolmaking.[31] Humans had long distinguished themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom as "Man the Toolmaker". In response to Goodall's revolutionary findings, Louis Leakey wrote, "[w]e must now redefine man, redefine tool, or accept chimpanzees as human!"[31]

Goodall observed the tendency for aggression and violence within chimpanzee troops. Goodall observed dominant females deliberately killing the young of other females in the troop to maintain their dominance,[30] sometimes going as far as cannibalism.[31] She said of this revelation,

During the first ten years of the study I had believed [...] that the Gombe chimpanzees were, for the most part, rather nicer than human beings. [...] Then suddenly we found that chimpanzees could be brutal—that they, like us, had a darker side to their nature.[31]

She described the 1974–1978 Gombe Chimpanzee War in her 1990 memoir, Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe. Her findings revolutionised contemporary knowledge of chimpanzee behaviour and were further evidence of the social similarities between humans and chimpanzees.[32]

Goodall found an aggressive side of chimpanzee nature at Gombe Stream. She discovered that chimpanzees will systematically hunt and eat smaller primates such as colobus monkeys.[30] Goodall watched a hunting group isolate a colobus monkey high in a tree and block all possible exits; then one chimpanzee climbed up and captured and killed the colobus. The others then each took parts of the carcass, sharing with other members of the troop in response to begging behaviours.[33] The chimpanzees at Gombe kill and eat as much as one-third of the colobus population in the park each year.[30] This represented a major scientific discovery that challenged previous conceptions of chimpanzee diet and behaviour.[34]

Goodall set herself apart from convention by naming the animals in her studies of primates instead of assigning each a number. Numbering was a nearly universal practice at the time and was thought to be important in avoiding emotional attachment to the subject being studied and thus losing objectivity.[35][36] Goodall wrote in 1993,

When, in the early 1960s, I brazenly used such words as 'childhood', 'adolescence', 'motivation', 'excitement', and 'mood' I was much criticised. Even worse was my crime of suggesting that chimpanzees had 'personalities'. I was ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman animals and was thus guilty of that worst of ethological sins—anthropomorphism.[37]

Setting herself apart from other researchers also led her to develop a close bond with the chimpanzees and to become the only human ever accepted into chimpanzee society.[36]

Among those whom Goodall named during her years in Gombe were:[38]

  • David Greybeard, a grey-chinned male who first warmed up to Goodall;[39]
  • Goliath, a friend of David Greybeard, originally the alpha male named for his bold nature;
  • Mike, who through his cunning and improvisation displaced Goliath as the alpha male;
  • Humphrey, a big, strong, bullysome male;
  • Gigi, a large, sterile female who delighted in being the "aunt" of any young chimps or humans;
  • Mr. McGregor, a belligerent older male;
  • Flo, a motherly, high-ranking female with a bulbous nose and ragged ears, and her children; Figan, Faben, Freud, Fifi, and Flint;[40][41]
  • Frodo, Fifi's second-oldest child, an aggressive male who also attacked humans, including Goodall.[42]

Jane Goodall Institute

Goodall in 2009 with Hungarian Roots & Shoots group members

In 1977 Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the Gombe research, and she was a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. With nineteen offices around the world, the JGI is widely recognised for community-centred conservation and development programmes in Africa. Its global youth programme, Roots & Shoots, began in 1991 when a group of 12 local teenagers met with Goodall on her back porch in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. They were eager to discuss a range of problems they knew about from first-hand experience that caused them deep concern. The organisation has over 10,000 groups in over 100 countries as of 2010.[43]

In 1992 Goodall founded the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre in the Republic of Congo to care for chimpanzees orphaned due to bush-meat trade. The rehabilitation houses over a hundred chimps over its three islands.[44]

In 1994 Goodall founded the Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education (TACARE or "Take Care") pilot project to protect chimpanzees' habitat from deforestation by reforesting hills around Gombe while simultaneously educating neighbouring communities on sustainability and agriculture training. The TACARE project also supports young girls by offering them access to reproductive health education and through scholarships to finance their college tuition.[45]

Goodall in 2009 with Lou Perrotti, who contributed to her book Hope for Animals and Their World

Owing to an overflow of handwritten notes, photographs, and data piling up at Goodall's home in Dar es Salaam in the mid-1990s, the Jane Goodall Institute's Center for Primate Studies was created at the University of Minnesota to house and organise this data. As of 2011, all of the original Jane Goodall archives reside there and have been digitised, analysed, and placed in an online database.[46] On 17 March 2011 Karl Bates, a Duke University spokesman, announced that the archives would be moved to Duke, with Anne E. Pusey, Duke's chairman of evolutionary anthropology, overseeing the collection. Pusey, who managed the archives in Minnesota and worked with Goodall in Tanzania, had worked at Duke for a year.[47]

In 2018 and 2020 Goodall partnered with her friend Michael Cammarata on two natural product lines from Schmidt's Naturals and Neptune Wellness Solutions. Five percent of every sale benefited the Jane Goodall Institute.[48][49][50]

As of 2004 Goodall devoted virtually all of her time to advocacy on behalf of chimpanzees and the environment, travelling nearly 300 days a year.[51][52] Goodall was also on the advisory council for the world's largest chimpanzee sanctuary outside of Africa, Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida, United States.[53]

Goodall was an advisory board member for The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN).[54]

Activism

Goodall with Allyson Reed of Skulls Unlimited International, at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums annual conference in September 2009

Goodall credited the 1986 Understanding Chimpanzees conference, hosted by the Chicago Academy of Sciences, with shifting her focus from observation of chimpanzees to a broader and more intense concern with animal-human conservation.[55] She was the former president of Advocates for Animals,[56] an organisation based in Edinburgh, Scotland, that campaigns against the use of animals in medical research, zoos, farming and sport.[57][58]

She was a vegetarian and advocated the diet for ethical, environmental, and health reasons. In The Inner World of Farm Animals (2009), Goodall wrote that farm animals are "far more aware and intelligent than we ever imagined and, despite having been bred as domestic slaves, they are individual beings in their own right. As such, they deserve our respect. And our help. Who will plead for them if we are silent?"[59] Goodall also said: "Thousands of people who say they 'love' animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been treated with so little respect and kindness just to make more meat."[60] In 2021 Goodall became a vegan and authored a cookbook titled Eat Meat Less.[61]

Goodall was an outspoken environmental advocate, speaking on the effects of climate change on endangered species such as chimpanzees. Goodall, alongside her foundation, collaborated with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to use satellite imagery from the Landsat series to remedy the effects of deforestation on chimpanzees and local communities in Western Africa by offering the villagers information on how to reduce activity and preserve their environment.[62] To ensure the safe and ethical treatment of animals during ethological studies, Goodall, alongside Professor Mark Bekoff, founded the organisation Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in 2000.[63]

In 2008 Goodall gave a lecture entitled "Reason for Hope" at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice,[64] and in the same year demanded the European Union end the use of medical research on animals and ensure more funding for alternative methods of medical research.[65] She described Edinburgh Zoo's new primate enclosure as a "wonderful facility" where monkeys "are probably better off [than those] living in the wild in an area like Budongo, where one in six gets caught in a wire snare, and countries like Congo, where chimpanzees, monkeys and gorillas are shot for food commercially."[66] This was in conflict with Advocates for Animals' position on captive animals.[67] In June that year, she resigned the presidency of the organisation which she had held since 1998, citing her busy schedule and explaining, "I just don't have time for them."[68] Goodall was a patron of the population concern charity Population Matters[69] and as of 2017 was an ambassador for Disneynature.[70]

In 2010 Goodall, through the Jane Goodall Institute, formed a coalition with a number of organisations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and petitioned to list all chimpanzees, including those that are captive, as endangered.[71] In 2015 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service accepted this rule and classified all chimpanzees as endangered.[72] In 2011 she became a patron of the Australian animal protection group Voiceless. "I have for decades been concerned about factory farming, in part because of the tremendous harm inflicted on the environment, but also because of the shocking ongoing cruelty perpetuated on millions of sentient beings."[73]

In 2012 she took on the role of challenger for the Engage in Conservation Challenge with The DO School, formerly known as the D&F Academy.[74] She worked with a group of aspiring social entrepreneurs to create a workshop to engage young people in conserving biodiversity, and to tackle a perceived global lack of awareness of the issue.[75] In 2014 Goodall wrote to Air France executives, criticising the airline's continued transport of monkeys to laboratories. Goodall called the practise "cruel" and "traumatic" for the monkeys involved. The same year, Goodall also wrote to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to criticise maternal deprivation experiments on baby monkeys in NIH laboratories.[76][77]

Prior to the 2015 UK general election, she endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas.[78] She was a critic of fox hunting and signed a letter to Members of Parliament in 2015 opposing the Conservative prime minister David Cameron's plan to amend the Hunting Act 2004.[79]

In August 2019 Goodall was honoured for her contributions to science with a bronze sculpture in Midtown Manhattan alongside nine other women, part of the Statues for Equality project.[80] In 2020 she advocated for ecocide (mass damage or destruction of nature) to be made an international crime, stating "The concept of Ecocide is long overdue. It could lead to an important change in the way people perceive – and respond to – the current environmental crisis."[81][82][83] That same year, Goodall vowed to plant five million trees, part of the one trillion tree initiative founded by the World Economic Forum.[84]

In 2021 Goodall called on the European Commission to abolish caging of farm animals.[85]

In 2021 Goodall joined the Rewriting Extinction campaign to fight the climate and biodiversity crisis through comics. She is listed as a contributor to the book The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World[86] which was released on 28 October 2021 by DK.[87]

Feeding stations

Goodall at TEDGlobal 2007

Many standard methods aim to avoid interference by observers, and in particular some believe that the use of feeding stations to attract Gombe chimpanzees has altered normal foraging and feeding patterns and social relationships. This argument is the focus of a book published by Margaret Power in 1991.[88] It has been suggested that higher levels of aggression and conflict with other chimpanzee groups in the area were due to the feeding, which could have created the "wars" between chimpanzee social groups described by Goodall, aspects of which she did not witness in the years before artificial feeding began at Gombe. Thus, some regard Goodall's observations as distortions of normal chimpanzee behaviour.[89]

Goodall herself acknowledged that feeding contributed to aggression within and between groups, but maintained that the effect was limited to alteration of the intensity and not the nature of chimpanzee conflict, and further suggested that feeding was necessary for the study to be effective at all. Craig Stanford of the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California states that researchers conducting studies with no artificial provisioning have a difficult time viewing any social behaviour of chimpanzees, especially those related to inter-group conflict.[90]

Some studies, such as those by Crickette Sanz in the Goualougo Triangle (Republic of the Congo) and Christophe Boesch in the Taï National Park (Ivory Coast), have not shown the aggression observed in the Gombe studies.[91] However, other primatologists disagree that the studies are flawed; for example, Jim Moore provides a critique of Margaret Powers' assertions[92] and some studies of other chimpanzee groups have shown aggression similar to that in Gombe even in the absence of feeding.[93]

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November 2017, Goodall was asked about the feeding stations and the controversy she received. Goodall acknowledged that she would not continue with feeding stations in present time as "there was absolutely no knowledge back then that chimpanzees could catch human infectious diseases".[94]

Opinions and written works

Bigfoot

Goodall was known to have supported the possibility that undiscovered species of primates may still exist, including cryptids such as Sasquatch, Yeren and other types of Bigfoot. She talked about this possibility in various interviews and debates.[95][96][97] In 2012, when the Huffington Post asked her about it, Goodall replied: "I'm fascinated and would actually love them to exist," adding, "Of course, it's strange that there has never been a single authentic hide or hair of the Bigfoot, but I've read all the accounts."[98]

Religion and spirituality

Goodall was raised in a Christian congregationalist family. As a young woman, she took night classes in Theosophy. Her family were occasional churchgoers, but Goodall began attending more regularly as a teenager when the church appointed a new minister, Trevor Davies. "He was highly intelligent and his sermons were powerful and thought-provoking... I could have listened to his voice for hours... I fell madly in love with him... Suddenly, no one had to encourage me to go to church. Indeed, there were never enough services for my liking." Of her later discovery of the atheism and agnosticism of many of her scientific colleagues, Goodall wrote that "[f]ortunately, by the time I got to Cambridge I was twenty-seven years old and my beliefs had already moulded so that I was not influenced by these opinions."[99]

In Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey (1999), Goodall described the implications of a mystical experience she had at Notre Dame Cathedral in 1977: "Since I cannot believe that this was the result of chance, I have to admit anti-chance. And so I must believe in a guiding power in the universe – in other words, I must believe in God."[100] When asked if she believes in God, Goodall said in September 2010: "I don't have any idea of who or what God is. But I do believe in some great spiritual power. I feel it particularly when I'm out in nature. It's just something that's bigger and stronger than what I am or what anybody is. I feel it. And it's enough for me."[101] When asked in the same year if she still considers herself a Christian, Goodall told The Guardian: "I suppose so; I was raised as a Christian." She stated further that she saw no contradiction between evolution and belief in God.[102]

In her foreword to the 2017 book The Intelligence of the Cosmos by Ervin Laszlo, a philosopher of science who advocates quantum consciousness theory, Goodall wrote: "we must accept that there is an Intelligence driving the process [of evolution], that the Universe and life on Earth are inspired and in-formed by an unknown and unknowable Creator, a Supreme Being, a Great Spiritual Power."[103]

Seeds of Hope

In 2013 Goodall wrote the book Seeds of Hope with Gail Hudson, which examined the critical role that trees and plants play in our world.[104] However, Hachette Book Group did not release the book due to the discovery of plagiarised portions.[105] A reviewer for The Washington Post had found unattributed sections that were copied from websites about organic tea and tobacco and an "amateurish astrology site", as well as from Wikipedia.[106] Goodall apologised and stated, "It is important to me that the proper sources are credited, and I will be working diligently with my team to address all areas of concern. My goal is to ensure that when this book is released it is not only up to the highest of standards, but also that the focus be on the crucial messages it conveys."[107]

The book was released on 1 April 2014, after review and the addition of 57 pages of endnotes.[108] After the release, Goodall blamed her "chaotic note taking" for the plagiarism accusations and revised the book after the allegations.[109]

Personal life

Goodall was married twice. On 28 March 1964 she married Baron Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch nobleman and wildlife photographer, at Chelsea Old Church, London. She was known during their marriage as Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall.[110] The couple had a son. They divorced in 1974. The following year, she married Derek Bryceson, a member of Tanzania's parliament and the director of that country's national parks. Bryceson died of cancer in October 1980. Owing to his position in the Tanzanian government as head of the country's national park system, Bryceson was able to protect Goodall's research project and implement an embargo on tourism at Gombe.[111]

Goodall stated that dogs, and not the chimps she studied, were her favourite animal.[112] She had prosopagnosia, which made it difficult to recognise familiar faces.[113] She lived in Bournemouth, England.[114]

Death and tributes

Goodall died in her sleep of natural causes in Los Angeles, California, on 1 October 2025, at the age of 91, while on a speaking tour in the United States.[8][115]

Following her death, tributes were paid by prominent figures including Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex;[116] the former US vice president Al Gore;[117] the former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, the comedian Ellen DeGeneres, the actor Leonardo DiCaprio;[118] and António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.[119]

In October 2025 Netflix released the first episode of Famous Last Words; in the episode, Goodall was interviewed by Brad Falchuk.[120]

Stevie Nicks's song "Jane", written in 1990, celebrates Goodall's life and work. It is the last track on Nicks's 1994 Street Angel album.[121][122]

On 3 March 2022, in celebration of Women's History Month and International Women's Day, the Lego Group issued set number 40530, A Jane Goodall Tribute, depicting a Goodall minifigure and three chimpanzees in an African forest scene.[123]

In 2022 Mattel released a Barbie-themed Goodall doll from recycled plastic in field attire with binoculars and a notebook. According to Mattel, the doll was made in recognition of Goodall's "decades of dedication, ground-breaking research, and heroic achievements as a conservationist, animal behavior expert, and activist".[124]

Gary Larson cartoon incident

In 1987 Gary Larson published a Far Side cartoon of two chimpanzees grooming, in which one discovers a blonde hair and says, "Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?"[125] The Jane Goodall Institute called the cartoon an "atrocity" in a letter drafted by its lawyers to Larson and his syndicate. Goodall, who was in Africa at the time, later found the cartoon amusing.[126] She went on to name it her favourite depiction of herself in pop culture.[127]

Larson offered profits from sales of a shirt featuring the cartoon to the Jane Goodall Institute.[128] Goodall wrote the preface to The Far Side Gallery 5, detailing her version of the controversy.[129] She praised Larson's creative ideas, which often compare and contrast the behaviour of humans and animals. In 1988 Larson visited Goodall's research facility in Tanzania.[126] While there, he was attacked by a chimpanzee named Frodo.[125][130]

Television and film

The Simpsons parodied Goodall in the 2001 episode "Simpson Safari", in which the scientist researcher Dr Joan Bushwell was written as an indirect parody of her.[131] She voiced herself on the episode "Gorillas on the Mast" in 2019.[132]

Goodall also voiced herself in The Wild Thornberrys episode "The Trouble with Darwin" where she is portrayed as visiting a chimpanzee sanctuary in Tanzania.[133][134] The episode was later adapted into a children's book by Kiki Thorpe.[135]

In February 2021 Apple TV+ ordered Jane, a live action/animation hybrid educational children's television programme which was created by J. J. Johnson co-produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment and the Jane Goodall Institute based on Goodall's missions.[136] It ran for three series, and Goodall appeared as herself in its twentieth and final episode, which aired on 18 April 2025.[137]

In October 2025, following Goodall's death, it was announced that a documentary about her life was being worked on by the filmmaker Richard Ladkani.[138]

Awards and recognition

Further information: List of awards and honours received by Jane Goodall
Goodall teaching about wetlands in Martha's Vineyard, US, 2006

Goodall received many honours for her environmental and humanitarian work, as well as others. In the 1995 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to zoology",[139] and in the 2003 Birthday Honours, promoted to Dame Commander of the same Order (DBE) "for services to the environment and conservation".[140] The investiture to damehood was held at Buckingham Palace in 2004.[141] In April 2002 Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Goodall a United Nations Messenger of Peace.[142] Her other honours included the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the French Legion of Honour, Order of the Torch of Kilimanjaro of Tanzania, Japan's prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the Gandhi-King Award for Nonviolence and the Spanish Prince of Asturias Awards.[citation needed]

Goodall received many tributes, honours and awards from local governments, schools, institutions, and charities around the world. Goodall was honoured by The Walt Disney Company with a plaque on the Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, alongside a carving of her beloved David Greybeard, the original chimpanzee that approached Goodall during her first year at Gombe.[143] She was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.[144][145]

In 2010 Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds held a benefit concert at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., to commemorate "Gombe 50: a global celebration of Jane Goodall's pioneering chimpanzee research and inspiring vision for our future".[146] Time magazine named Goodall as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.[147] In 2021, she received the Templeton Prize.[148]

On 31 December 2021 Goodall was the guest editor of the BBC Radio Four Today programme.[149][150] She chose Francis Collins to be presenter of Thought for the Day.[151]

In 2022 Goodall received the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication for her long-term study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees.[152]

In April 2023 Goodall was awarded as Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau in a ceremony in The Hague, the Netherlands.[153][154]

In October 2024 Goodall gave "A Speech for History" at UNESCO.[155]

In January 2025 Goodall was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Joe Biden.[156]

Works

Library resources about
Jane Goodall
By Jane Goodall

Books

Sources:[157][158][159]

  • 1969: My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.
  • 1971: Innocent Killers (with H. van Lawick). Boston: Houghton Mifflin; London: Collins.
  • 1971: In the Shadow of Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; London: Collins. Published in 48 languages.
  • 1986: The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Boston: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press. Published also in Japanese and Russian. R.R. Hawkins Award for the Outstanding Technical, Scientific or Medical book of 1986, to Bellknap Press of Harvard University Press, Boston. The Wildlife Society (USA) Award for "Outstanding Publication in Wildlife Ecology and Management"
  • 1990: Through a Window: 30 Years Observing the Gombe Chimpanzees. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Translated into more than 15 languages. 1991 Penguin edition, UK. American Library Association "Best" list among Nine Notable Books (Nonfiction) for 1991.
  • 1991: Visions of Caliban (co-authored with Dale Peterson, PhD). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. New York Times "Notable Book" for 1993. Library Journal "Best Sci-Tech Book" for 1993.
  • 1999: Brutal Kinship (with Michael Nichols). New York: Aperture Foundation'
  • 1999: Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey (with Phillip Berman). New York: Warner Books, Inc. Translated into Japanese and Portuguese.
  • 2000: 40 Years at Gombe. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang.
  • 2000: Africa In My Blood (edited by Dale Peterson). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
  • 2001: Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters, the Later Years (edited by Dale Peterson). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-12520-5 .
  • 2002: The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals We Love (with Marc Bekoff). San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.
  • 2005: Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating. New York: Warner Books, Inc. ISBN 0-446-53362-9.
  • 2009: Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-58177-1.
  • 2013: Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants (with Gail Hudson) Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 1-4555-1322-9.
  • 2021: The Book of Hope, with Douglas Abrams and Gail Hudson, Viking[160]

Children's books

Source:[161]

  • 1972: Grub: The Bush Baby (with H. van Lawick). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  • 1988: My Life with the Chimpanzees. New York: Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. Translated into French, Japanese and Chinese. Parenting's Reading-Magic Award for Outstanding Book for Children, 1989.
  • 1989: The Chimpanzee Family Book Saxonville: Picture Book Studio; Munich: Neugebauer Press; London: Picture Book Studio. Translated into more than 15 languages, including Japanese and Swahili. The UNICEF Award for the best children's book of 1989. Austrian state prize for best children's book of 1990.
  • 1989: Jane Goodall's Animal World: Chimps. New York: Macmillan.
  • 1989: Animal Family Series: Chimpanzee Family; Lion Family; Elephant Family; Zebra Family; Giraffe Family; Baboon Family; Hyena Family; Wildebeest Family. Toronto: Madison Marketing Ltd.
  • 1994: With Love, New York; London: North-South Books. Translated into German, French, Italian, and Japanese.
  • 1999: Dr. White (illustrated by Julie Litty). New York: North-South Books.
  • 2000: The Eagle & the Wren (illustrated by Alexander Reichstein). New York: North-South Books.
  • 2001: Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World and Ours. New York: Scholastic Press.
  • 2002: (Foreword) "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said the Sloth by Eric Carle. Philomel Books.
  • 2004: Rickie and Henri: A True Story (with Alan Marks). Penguin Young Readers Group.

Films

Goodall is the subject of more than 40 films:[162][163]

  • 1965: Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees. National Geographic Society.
  • 1973: Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Wild Dogs of Africa with Hugo van Lawick.
  • 1975: Miss Goodall: The Hyena Story: The World of Animal Behavior Series 16mm for DiscoVision (not released on LaserDisc).[164]
  • 1976: "Lions of the Serengeti", an episode of The World About Us on BBC2.
  • 1984: Among the Wild Chimpanzees. National Geographic Special.
  • 1988: People of the Forest with Hugo van Lawick.
  • 1990: Chimpanzee Alert in the Nature Watch Series, Central Television.
  • 1990: The Life and Legend of Jane Goodall. National Geographic Society.
  • 1990: The Gombe Chimpanzees. Bavarian Television.
  • 1995: Fifi's Boys for the Natural World series for the BBC.
  • 1996: Chimpanzee Diary for BBC2 Animal Zone.
  • 1997: Animal Minds for the BBC.
  • 2000: Jane Goodall: Reason For Hope PBS special produced by KTCA.
  • 2001 "Chimps R Us, on season 11, episode 8". Scientific American Frontiers. Chedd-Angier Production Company. 2000–2001. PBS. Archived from the original on 1 January 2006.
  • 2002: Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees (IMAX format), in collaboration with Science North.
  • 2005: Jane Goodall's Return to Gombe for Animal Planet.
  • 2006: Chimps, So Like Us. HBO film nominated for 1990 Academy Award.
  • 2007: When Animals Talk, We Should Listen theatrical documentary feature co-produced by Animal Planet
  • 2010: Jane's Journey. Theatrical documentary feature co-produced by Animal Planet.
  • 2012: Chimpanzee. Theatrical nature documentary feature co-produced by Disneynature.
  • 2017: Jane biographical documentary film National Geographic Studios, in association with Public Road Productions. The film is directed and written by Brett Morgen, music by Philip Glass
  • 2018: Zayed's Antarctic Lights. Dr Goodall featured in the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi film that screened on National Geographic-Abu Dhabi and won a World Medal at the New York Film and TV Awards.[165][166]
  • 2019: Exploring Hans Hass. Dr Jane Goodall featured in the biographical documentary film about the legendary diving pioneer and filmmaker Hans Hass.[167]
  • 2020: Jane Goodall: The Hope, biographical documentary film, National Geographic Studios, produced by Lucky 8[168]
  • 2023: Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope is an IMAX format documentary about successful projects to restore Earth's wildlife habitat, animals, birds and environment.[169]

See also

References

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  2.  "Dame Jane Goodall". Woman's Hour. 26 January 2010. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3.  Holloway, M. (1997) Profile: Jane Goodall – Gombe's Famous Primate, Scientific American 277(4), 42–44.
  4.  Killgrove, Kristina (1 October 2025). "Jane Goodall, famed primatologist who discovered chimpanzee tool use, dies at 91". Live Science.
  5.  Greenfield, Patrick; Weston, Phoebe; Horton, Helena (2 October 2025). "'A remarkable ability to inspire': global tributes pour in for Jane Goodall". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  6.  Dalton, Jane (2 October 2025). "Jane Goodall, pioneering chimpanzee expert, dies aged 91". The Independent. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  7.  Mayor, Mireya (1 October 2025). "Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human". The Conversation.
  8.  Cohen, Rebecca; Mullen, Austin; Bush, Evan; Madani, Doha (1 October 2025). "Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and animal advocate, dies at 91". NBC News. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  9.  "Jane Goodall, Board Member". Nonhuman Rights Project. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  10.  "Jane Goodall Biography". Biography.
  11.  "Morris-Goodall, Valerie J" in Register of Births for Hampstead Registration District, volume 1a (1934), p. 748.
  12.  England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007.
  13.  1911 England Census
  14.  Jane Goodall; Phillip Berman (2000). Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey. New York: Warner Books. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-446-67613-7.
  15.  "Early Days". Jane Goodall Institute. 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  16.  "Jane Goodall Biography and Interview". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  17.  Jane Goodall helps humans and animals live together. Arusha, Tanzania: TED. June 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  18.  Richards, Peter (2000). "Profile: Mirror of Humankind". Cambridge Alumni Magazine (44): 10–13. When I came up to Cambridge in 1962, I had no degree of any sort.
  19.  Morell, Virginia (1995). Ancestral Passions: the Leakey family and the quest for humankind's beginnings. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-684-80192-6.
  20.  Goodall, Jane; Peterson, Dale (25 September 2002). Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters: The Later Years. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-618-25734-8. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  21.  Morgen, B. (Director). (2017). Jane [Motion Picture]. United States: National Geographic Studios
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  67.  Tim Walker, Is Jane Goodall about to lose her post?, The Daily Telegraph, 23 May 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2008. "She's entitled to her opinion, but our position isn't going to change. We oppose the keeping of animals in captivity for entertainment."
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  77.  King, Barbara (11 September 2014). "Still Now, Should Lab Monkeys Be Deprived Of Their Mothers?". NPR. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
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  85.  Legendary Jane Goodall & 140+ scientists call on EU to end cages in farming Archived 4 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine from 23. February 2021 in Ciwf.eu.
  86.  The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World. DK. 2021. ISBN 978-0241513514.
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  95.  Gerlach, David (28 March 2015). "Why Jane Goodall Believes in Bigfoot (Video)". Live Science. Future plc.
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  99.  Goodall, Jane (1999). Reason For Hope: A Spiritual Journey. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-93042-3.
  100.  Goodall, Jane (15 April 2019). "Dr. Goodall's thoughts on the fire of Notre Dame". Jane Goodall Institute. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  101.  Jane Goodall's Questions & Answers, Reader's Digest, p. 128, September 2010
  102.  Moss, Stephen (13 January 2010). "Jane Goodall: 'My job is to give people hope'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  103.  Laszlo, Ervin (2017). The Intelligence of the Cosmos. Foreword: Simon and Schuster. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-62055-732-7.
  104.  "Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants". Good Reads. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  105.  Italie, Hillel (23 March 2013). "Jane Goodall apologizes for plagiarizing in new book". Christian Science Monitor. Associated Press.
  106.  Swaine, Jon (20 March 2013). "Dame Jane Goodall admits parts of book were lifted from online". The Daily Telegraph.
  107.  Flood, Alison. "Jane Goodall book held back after accusations of plagiarism." The Guardian, 25 March 2013. Accessed 24 June 2013.
  108.  Levingston, Steven (2 April 2014). "Jane Goodall's 'Seeds of Hope' reissued a year after being pulled from shelves". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  109.  "Jane Goodall blames 'chaotic note taking' for plagiarism controversy". The Guardian. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
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  111.  Montgomery, Sy (1991). Walking With the Great Apes. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-0-395-51597-6.
  112.  Bielski, Zosia (7 April 2011). "Jane Goodall: 'My favourite animal is a dog'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  113.  "Photos: The faces of those who don't recognize faces". CNN. 23 May 2013.
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  156.  Lavelle, Daniel (4 January 2025). "Bono, Anna Wintour and Jane Goodall receive Presidential Medals of Freedom". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  157.  "Jane Goodall Books". Good Reads. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  158.  "Dr. Jane Goodall: 15 Books by Dr. Jane Goodall". Master Class. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
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  160.  The New Statesman, 15–21 October 2021, p. 40, review by Philippa Nuttall
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  162.  I.M. (19 October 2017). "Not just another film about Jane Goodall". The Economist.
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  166.  "Winners Gallery – New York Festivals". tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  167.  "Exploring Hans Hass Documentary Film, AT 2019, Farbe+SW, 100 min., 20.03. dOF / 23.03. OmeU Diagonale 2019".
  168.  Sullivan, Ashley (25 July 2019). "New Doc Special THE HOPE Tells Story of Jane's Living Legacy". Jane Goodall's Good for All News. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  169.  Moorehead, M.V. (3 June 2023). "Renowned Conservationist Jane Goodall Visits Arizona Science Center for Documentary Debut". Phoenix Magazine. Retrieved 8 June 2023.

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Jane Goodall, one of the world’s most revered conservationists, who earned scientific stature and global celebrity by chronicling the distinctive behavior of wild chimpanzees in East Africa — primates that made and used tools, ate meat, held rain dances and engaged in organized warfare — died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Her death, while on a speaking tour, was confirmed by the Jane Goodall Institute, whose U.S. headquarters are in Washington, D.C. When not traveling widely, she lived in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, in her childhood home.

Dr. Goodall was 29 in the summer of 1963 when National Geographic magazine published her 7,500-word, 37-page account of the lives of primates she had observed in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in what is now Tanzania. The National Geographic Society had been financially supporting her field studies there.

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Jane Goodall, a Revered Conservationist, Dies at 91
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Jane Goodall, the renowned primate expert, has died. She was 91. Her discoveries about how wild chimpanzees raised their young, established leadership, socialized and communicated broke new ground and attracted immense attention and respect among researchers.CreditCredit...Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The article, with photographs by Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch wildlife photographer whom she later married, also described Dr. Goodall’s struggles to overcome disease, predators and frustration as she tried to get close to the chimps, working from a primitive research station along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.

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On the scientific merits alone, her discoveries about how wild chimpanzees raised their young, established leadership, socialized and communicated broke new ground and attracted immense attention and respect among researchers. Stephen Jay Gould, the evolutionary biologist and science historian, said her work with chimpanzees “represents one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”

On learning of Dr. Goodall’s documented evidence that humans were not the only creatures capable of making and using tools, Louis Leakey, the paleoanthropologist and Dr. Goodall’s mentor, famously remarked, “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans.”

Long before focus groups, message discipline and communications plans became crucial tools in advancing high-profile careers and alerting the world to significant discoveries in and outside of science, Dr. Goodall understood the benefits of being the principal narrator and star of her own story of discovery.

In articles and books, her lucid prose carried vivid descriptions, some lighthearted, of the numerous perils she encountered in the African rainforest — malaria, leopards, crocodiles, spitting cobras and deadly giant centipedes, to name a few. Her writing gained its widest attention in three more long articles in National Geographic in the 1960s and ’70s and in three well-received books, “My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees” (1967), “In the Shadow of Man” (1971) and “Through a Window” (1990).

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Dr. Goodall’s willingness to challenge scientific convention and shape the details of her research into a riveting adventure narrative about two primary subjects — the chimps and herself — turned her into a household name, in no small part thanks to the power of television.

Dr. Goodall’s gentle, knowledgeable demeanor and telegenic presence — set against the beautiful yet dangerous Gombe preserve and its playful and unpredictable primates — proved irresistible to the broadcast networks. In December 1965, CBS News aired a documentary of her work in prime time, the first in a long string of nationally and internationally televised special reports about the chimpanzees of Gombe and the courageous woman steadfastly chronicling what she called their “rich emotional life.”

In becoming one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century, Dr. Goodall also opened the door for more women in her largely male field as well as across all of science. Women, including Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas, Cheryl Knott and Penny Patterson, came to dominate the field of primate behavior research.

ImageA young man and woman sit on the ground near a camera on a tripod, as a monkey climbs up the tripod.
Dr. Goodall with her first husband, Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch wildlife photographer, in 1974.Credit...Associated Press
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A young blond, pony-tailed woman feeds a monkey in the jungle.
Television specials, including “Miss Goodall and the World of Chimpanzees,” originally broadcast on CBS in 1965, made Dr. Goodall a household name.Credit...CBS, via Getty Images

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Most of Dr. Goodall’s observations focused on several generations of a troop of 30 to 40 chimpanzees, one of two species that are genetically closest to humans, the other being the bonobos. She named some of them — Flo, Fifi, David Greybeard — and grew to know each of them personally. She was particularly interested in their courtship, mating rituals, births and parenting.

Dr. Goodall was the first scientist to explain to the world that chimpanzee mothers are capable of giving birth only once every four and a half to six years, and that only one or two babies were produced each year by the Gombe Stream troop. She found that first-time mothers generally hid their babies from the adult males, prompting frantic displays by the males — leaping and hooting that could last five minutes. An experienced mother, however, she discovered, freely allowed males and other females to view her infant, satisfying their curiosity, in a far calmer introduction.

In her many articles, books and documentaries, Dr. Goodall explored similar signal moments in her own life. In March 1964, after a nearly yearlong courtship, she married Mr. van Lawick. Three years later, she gave birth to Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, her only child, whom she nicknamed Grub.

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A young blonde woman stands next to her husband, who carries their towheaded son on his shoulders.
Dr. Goodall, Mr. van Lawick and their son, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, in the ABC special “Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Lions of the Serengeti.”Credit...ABC, via Getty Images

But even there she drew connections to her work in the field. She explained that her parenting philosophy and strategy were based on skills and values that she had learned from the chimpanzees, particularly the sure-handed matriarch of the troop, whom she named Flo. Nevertheless, she kept Grub in a protective cage while she was in the forest with him: She feared that he might be killed and eaten by the chimps.

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Dr. Goodall’s ability to weave scientific observation with the story of her own life produced a powerful drama filled with characters of all ages, sexes and species. She once told a scientific meeting that her work would have had far less resonance scientifically or emotionally if she had just referred to the proud and confident chimp known as David Greybeard by a number, as was the usual practice.

In the 1970s, Dr. Goodall began to spend less time observing chimpanzees and far more time seeking to protect them and their disappearing habitat. She made known her opposition to capturing wild chimpanzees for display in zoos or for medical research. And she traveled the world, drawing large audiences with a message of hope and confidence that the world would recognize the importance of preserving its natural resources.

The 1970s were also a period of upheaval in her personal life. In 1974, she divorced Mr. van Lawick and soon afterward married Derek Bryceson, the director of national parks in Tanzania. He died of cancer in 1980, a time she later said was perhaps the most difficult of her life.

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Dr. Goodall in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve with her mother, an author and novelist who wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall.Credit...Hugo van Lawick/Jane Goodall Institute

She established the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977. It evolved into one of the world’s largest nonprofit global research and conservation organizations, with offices in the United States and 24 other nations. Its Roots and Shoots program, launched in 1991, teaches young people about conservation in 75 countries.

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In honor of her work, Tanzania in 1978 designated the Gombe Stream Reserve a national park. Dr. Goodall’s institute maintains a research station there that attracts students and scientists from around the world. In 2002, the United Nations named Dr. Goodall a Messenger of Peace, the U.N.’s highest honor for global citizenship.

Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in London on April 3, 1934, and grew up in Bournemouth as the older of two girls of Margaret Myfanwe (Joseph) Goodall, who was known as Vanne, and Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall.

Her mother was an author and novelist who wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall. Her father was an engineer who raced cars for a time. The couple divorced after World War II. Vanne Goodall accompanied her daughter to the Gombe reserve at the start of Dr. Goodall’s famous study in 1960 and was a leading character in much of her daughter’s writing.

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In a black and white photo, a young child wearing a knit one-piece outfit has one arm around a stuffed monkey.
Dr. Goodall was a child when her father gave her a stuffed monkey doll that she named Jubilee.Credit...Jane Goodall Institute

As a little girl, Jane adored Tarzan’s Jane, Dr. Doolittle and a little stuffed monkey doll, a gift from her father that she named Jubilee. Indeed, in her public appearances, Dr. Goodall almost always described her scientific findings and her international renown as a fortunate convergence of her childhood love of animals and Africa with her inquisitive and adventurous nature.

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In 1956, after finishing a course in secretarial school and taking several jobs in London, she received a letter from a friend whose family owned a farm near Nairobi, Kenya. The friend invited her to join her.

Dr. Goodall jumped at the opportunity. Booking passage on a freighter to Africa, she arrived in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, on her 23rd birthday. She was soon introduced to other expatriate Englishmen and women in Nairobi as well as to Dr. Leakey, at the time a prominent but not yet internationally renowned archaeologist.

Seven weeks after her arrival, she began work as Dr. Leakey’s secretary and assistant. Dr. Goodall accompanied him that summer to the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, a three-day trip over trackless wilderness, where he was in the early phases of excavating early human remains. He often talked about his interest in stationing a researcher on Lake Tanganyika to study a troop of wild chimpanzees that lived there.

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Dr. Goodall with one of her research subjects at the Gombe reserve in the 1970s.Credit...Bettmann, via Getty Images
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Dr. Goodall watched young Gaia groom her mother, Gremlin, in 1998.Credit...Kristin J. Mosher/Jane Goodall Institute

Those discussions led to an agreement with Dr. Goodall that she would take on that mission. On July 14, 1960, accompanied by her mother, she arrived at Gombe, and three months later, she watched as the big, handsome adult male chimp she named David Greybeard did something no human had ever expected of an animal.

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“He was squatting beside the red earth mound of a termite nest, and as I watched I saw him carefully push a long grass stem down into a hole in the mound,” she wrote. “After a moment he withdrew it and picked something from the end of it with his mouth. It was obvious that he was actually using a grass stem as a tool.”

Recognizing the contributions she was making to science, the University of Cambridge accepted her into its doctoral program in 1961 without an undergraduate degree. She was awarded her doctorate in 1965.

Dr. Goodall wrote 32 books, 15 of them for children. In her last book, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times” (2021, with Douglas Abrams and Gail Hudson), she wrote of her optimism about the future of humankind.

It was a message she continued to spread in her frequent public speaking engagements around the world, traveling some 300 days a year into her last decades, according to her institute. When she died on Wednesday, she had been scheduled to speak to students in Pasadena, Calif., and to participate in a tree-planting ceremony in an area that had been ravaged by wildfires.

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Dr. Goodall playing with Bahati, a 3-year-old female chimpanzee, at a sanctuary in Kenya in 1997.Credit...Jean-Marc Bouju/Associated Press

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Her many awards include the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, presented in 1995, and the Templeton Prize, given in 2021. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II named her a dame of the British Empire. In January, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

She is survived by her son; her sister, Judy Waters; and three grandchildren.

In July 2022, Mattel released a Jane Goodall doll as part of its Barbie-branded Inspiring Women series. The doll, with blond hair and dressed in a tan field shirt and shorts, is made of recycled plastic. It honored the 62nd anniversary of Dr. Goodall’s first visit to the Gombe reserve.

“Since young girls began reading about my early life and my career with the chimps, many, many, many of them have told me that they went into conservation or animal behavior because of me,” Ms. Goodall once said in a CBS News interview. “I sincerely hope that it will help to create more interest and fascination in the natural world.”

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Jane Goodall: A Life in Pictures

The primatologist gained scientific acclaim for her work with chimpanzees and then later used her fame to champion conservation.

Text by Alexa Robles-Gil

Produced by Laurence Tan

Leer en español

Jane Goodall died on Wednesday at 91 after a life spent revolutionizing the study of primates and then bringing her global fame to the cause of conservation.

She spent her 20s chronicling the lives of a troop of chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, in what is now Tanzania. The work earned her scientific prestige and helped people understand the connection between humans and apes.

She studied a breadth of behaviors in chimps, from mating rituals to toolmaking. She grew to know each chimpanzee personally and often drew connections between observations in the field to her personal life. In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to conservation and research.

Here are snapshots from her life and career.

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A baby photo of Jane Goodall in a white onesie next to a stuffed chimpanzee toy.
Credit...Jane Goodall Institute

Jane Goodall was given a stuffed toy chimpanzee, named Jubilee, for her first birthday.

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A young Jane Goodall on the left next to her mother, Vanne, outdoors.
Credit...The Goodall Family, via Associated Press

Goodall’s mother, Vanne, was an author and novelist.

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Jane Goodall in a wedding dress and veil holding a bouquet next to her husband, Hugo van Lawick, who is wearing a tuxedo with a boutonnière. They are seated in the back of a car.
Credit...Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

In 1964, Goodall married Hugo Van Lawick, a Dutch wildlife photographer, in London. They divorced in 1974.

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Jane Goodall wearing field clothes with a chimpanzee below her grabbing the edge of her shirt and looking up toward her.
Credit...Bettmann/Corbis

Goodall’s research subjects at the Gombe reserve in Tanzania included troops of chimpanzees. She grew to know them personally.

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Jane Goodall and Hugo van Lawick sitting next to a video camera on a tripod as a monkey looks into its lens.
Credit...Associated Press

Goodall’s first husband, Van Lawick, photographed her work in Tanzania.

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Jane Goodall standing to the left of her young son, Hugo Eric Louis Lawick.
Credit...Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

She and her first husband had one son, Hugo Eric Louis Van Lawick, who in this picture in the Gombe reserve was 7 years old. She nicknamed him Grub.

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A young Jane Goodall sitting in a tent in front of a typewriter illuminated by a lamp.
Credit...Hugo van Lawick/Jane Goodall Institute

Goodall wrote dozens of books and articles that chronicled her time and perils while working in the African rainforest.

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Jane Goodall in a black long-sleeve shirt in front of a large image of a chimpanzee.
Credit...Renato Rotolo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Goodall traveled the world to speak about conservation and the environment, campaigning to protect chimpanzees.

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Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee sitting next to each other both with their mouths open like they are hooting.
Credit...Michael Neugebauer

She learned to “pant-hoot,” a loud vocalization chimpanzees used to communicate.

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Jane Goodall standing on a stage holding hands with two women.
Credit...Librado Romero/The New York Times

Goodall was an advocate for involving children in environmental efforts. Her program, Roots and Shoots, teaching young people about conservation, is active in 75 countries.

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Jane Goodall holding a stuffed monkey toy while seated and surrounded by other National Geographic explorers-in-residence holding objects associated with their fields of study.
Credit...Sisse Brimberg/National Geographic Society, via Associated Press

Goodall with explorers-in-residence of the National Geographic Society in 2000, and her monkey companion Mr. H. The society financed her field studies in 1963.

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Jane Goodall kissing a young chimpanzee on the forehead.
Credit...Barnabas Honeczy/MTI, via Associated Press

Goodall kissing Pola, a 1-year old orphaned chimpanzee, during her visit to a zoo in Budapest in 2004.

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Jane Goodall and four other people around a cage box with a chimpanzee in the foreground that has just been released into the wild after rehabilitation.
Credit...Michael Cox/Jane Goodall Institute

Goodall’s work at the Jane Goodall Institute often involved rescuing and rehabilitating chimpanzees. In the picture above, Wounda, an ape rescued from the illegal bushmeat trade, is released onto a sanctuary island.

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Jane Goodall holding a stuffed chimpanzee toy near other women in front of signs that say “The DVF Awards.”
Credit...Rebecca Smeyne for The New York Times

In 2017, Goodall was the lifetime leadership recipient of the DVF awards.

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Jane Goodall standing in a clearing surrounded by foliage.
Credit...Enric Fontcuberta/EPA, via Shutterstock

Goodall at the CosmoCaixa Museum of Science in Barcelona, Spain, in 2018.

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A large silver statue of a chimpanzee is displayed on a promenade over a pedestrian path in Melbourne in 2020.
Credit...James Ross/EPA, via Shutterstock

A sculpture of the chimpanzee David Greybeard, one of Goodall’s subjects, after it was unveiled by the artist Lisa Roet and the Jane Goodall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020.

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Jane Goodall holds up a toy chimpanzee alongside the Jane Goodall Barbie doll against a background of plants and flowers.
Credit...Jane Goodall Institute, via Reuters

In 2022, Barbie released a Dr. Jane Goodall doll, part of its Barbie Inspiring Women series.

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The chef José Andrés kisses Jane Goodall on the cheek during an onstage interview with Katie Couric at a Clinton Global Initiative event in 2024.
Credit...Alex Kent/Getty Images

Goodall, kissed by the chef José Andrés as Katie Couric looked on, used her celebrity status to speak about environmental challenges until the very end of her life.

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Jane Goodall, wearing the Presidential Medal of Freedom, shakes hands with President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a ceremony at the White House in 2025.
Credit...Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

President Joseph R. Biden Jr. awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Goodall at the White House in January 2025.

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A black-and-white photo of Jane Goodall seated by a window in 2024.
Credit...Erinn Springer for The New York Times

Goodall and Mr. H the monkey at the Hotel Elysee in New York City last year.


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What Jane Goodall Taught Us About Living a Long Life

The scientist, who died at 91 on Wednesday, was a model for healthy aging.

Listen to this article · 5:08 min Learn more
Jane Goodall sits on a bench in an outdoor courtyard. She wears an aqua turtleneck under a beige scarf with colorful trim.
Credit...Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times

By Dana G. Smith and Nina Agrawal

Sign up for the Well newsletter, for Times subscribers only.  Essential news and guidance to live your healthiest life. 

Jane Goodall, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, followed several principles that geriatricians recommend for a long and healthy life.

A scientist, conservationist and author, Dr. Goodall stayed active, working until the day she died. She had a clear sense of purpose for her life. And she was an enduring optimist.

Over a nearly seven-decade career, Dr. Goodall taught us about the intelligence of chimpanzees. But she left behind powerful teachings about aging — and living well — too.

According to the Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Goodall traveled approximately 300 days a year, espousing her “message of hope through action.” While forgoing retirement might not be for everyone, Ken Stern, the author of “Healthy to 100,” a book that examines longevity around the world, said that people who work longer typically live longer.

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“We tend to associate work with stress, which is bad for you,” Mr. Stern said. “But in fact, working in later years is clearly beneficial from a healthy longevity perspective.”

Research shows that people who retire in their early 60s have a greater risk of death in the following years than those who stop working later, regardless of their health before retirement. People also tend to experience accelerated cognitive decline, as well as higher rates of depression, after they retire.

Some of the benefits of a later retirement probably stem from the fact that work keeps you physically active and engaged with the world. Dr. Goodall’s travel schedule meant she was moving and “getting out of the house,” Mr. Stern said.

Dr. Goodall’s work may have offered other health advantages, said Dr. Margaret Flanagan, a neuropathologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Famously, Dr. Goodall spent a lot of time in nature, which has been linked to lower cortisol levels, lower blood pressure and less inflammation.

The socially and cognitively stimulating aspects of her more recent work — writing books and speaking to large audiences — probably benefited Dr. Goodall as well.

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Social interactions are especially important as we age because they force us to exercise skills that we often take for granted, said Dr. Stephanie Collier, the director of education in the geriatric psychiatry division at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts. These include carrying on a conversation, using certain vocabulary and considering different worldviews. Being around others can also help lower stress and anxiety, Dr. Collier added.

How we decide which health research to cover. Times reporters sort through many studies, some compelling, some preliminary and some contradictory. Before we report on anything, we scrutinize the quality of the data and look for conflicts of interest.

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Dr. Goodall’s work clearly gave her a strong sense of meaning or purpose, which has been associated with a longer life span. One study, published in 2019, found that out of nearly 7,000 adults over the age of 50, those who scored highest on a measure asking about life purpose had less than half the risk of dying over the next four years compared with those who scored lowest.

“Feeling like you have something to do, some reason for being, is powerful,” said Dr. Alison Moore, the director of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging and the Center for Healthy Aging at the University of California, San Diego. “Jane Goodall certainly had it.”

That sense of purpose can give people a reason to take better care of their physical health, Dr. Moore said. “They want to stay in as good shape as they can to continue to be able to pursue the things that matter to them.”

If work doesn’t provide a feeling of meaning, it could come from spirituality, relationships or a new hobby, Dr. Collier said. Whatever inspires it, having purpose in life gives people motivation “to keep learning, to keep interacting and to keep getting out of bed,” she said — elements that can fall by the wayside in older age.

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Dr. Goodall was an optimist. In her last book, published in 2021, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” she laid out what gives her hope, even in the face of climate change and other serious global challenges.

Research has shown that optimists live longer. For example, in an ongoing, decades-long study of aging and dementia in a group of Catholic nuns, those who expressed more positive emotions in early-life writings lived, on average, seven to 10 years longer than those whose writings were the least positive. The association remained after adjusting for education and linguistic ability, suggesting that optimism “may help buffer stress and foster resilience,” said Dr. Flanagan, who now leads the study.

Even when it came to death, Dr. Goodall maintained a positive attitude. In a 2021 interview with The New York Times, she was asked about her “next great adventure.” Her answer? Dying.

“When you die, there’s either nothing, in which case I’m finished, or there’s something,” she said. “I happen to think that there’s something, from various experiences I’ve had. And if that’s so, then I can’t think of a greater adventure than finding out what’s there. What’s next?”


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