Desmond Morris facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Desmond Morris FLS hon. caus.
Morris in 1969
Born	Desmond John Morris (1928-01-24) 24 January 1928 (age 97) Purton, England
Alma mater	University of Birmingham University of Oxford
Occupation	Zoologist and ethologist
Known for	The Naked Ape (1967)
Spouse(s)	Ramona Baulch ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 2018)​
Children	1
Scientific career
Fields	Zoology
Thesis	The reproductive behaviour of the ten-spined stickleback (1954)
Doctoral advisor	Niko Tinbergen

Desmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist and ethologist. A zoologist studies animals, while an ethologist studies animal behavior. He is also a surrealist painter and a popular author. He is well-known for his 1967 book, The ... Ape, and for his TV shows like Zoo Time.

Early Life and Education

Desmond Morris was born in Purton, Wiltshire, England. His mother was Marjorie Morris, and his father was Harry Morris, a children's author. In 1933, his family moved to Swindon. There, Desmond became very interested in natural history and writing. He went to Dauntsey's School, a boarding school in Wiltshire.

In 1946, Morris joined the British Army for two years. He became a teacher of fine arts at the Chiseldon Army College. After leaving the army in 1948, he had his first art show in Swindon. He then studied zoology at the University of Birmingham.

In 1950, he had a surrealist art exhibition with Joan Miró in London. He also wrote and directed two surrealist films, Time Flower and The Butterfly and the Pin. In 1951, he started working on his doctorate at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. He studied animal behaviour. In 1954, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree. His research was about how the ten-spined stickleback fish reproduces.

Career Highlights

After getting his doctorate, Morris continued his research at Oxford. He studied how birds reproduce. In 1956, he moved to London. He became the head of the TV and Film Unit for the Zoological Society of London. He also studied how apes make pictures.

His work involved making TV shows about animal behavior. He hosted a weekly show called Zoo Time until 1959. He wrote and hosted 500 episodes of this show. He also hosted 100 episodes of Life in the Animal World for BBC2.

In 1957, he organized an exhibition in London. It showed paintings and drawings made by common chimpanzees. In 1958, he helped organize another exhibition called The Lost Image. This show compared pictures made by babies, adult humans, and apes.

In 1959, he left Zoo Time. He became the Curator of Mammals for the Zoological Society of London. In 1964, he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on Animal Behaviour. These are famous lectures for young people. In 1967, he was the executive director of the London Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Famous Books and TV Shows

One of Morris's most famous books is The ... Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal. It was published in 1967. The book sold very well. This allowed Morris to move to Malta in 1968 to write more books.

In 1973, he returned to Oxford to work with ethologist Niko Tinbergen. From 1973 to 1981, Morris was a Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. He also created several TV series. These included The Human Race (1979), Man Watching in Japan (1982), and The Animals Road Show (1986). In 1994, Morris wrote and presented the BBC documentary The Human Animal and its book.

Morris is an honorary Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. This is a very old and respected society for natural history.

Artistic Journey

Alongside his science and media work, Morris kept creating surrealist paintings. His art career lasted for 70 years. For a long time, his paintings were not widely known. But over time, they were shown in exhibitions and bought by public galleries, including the Tate in London. In 2017, a BBC Four documentary called The Secret Surrealist featured his paintings. Morris continued to paint many surrealist artworks even into his nineties.

Personal Life

Desmond Morris's father passed away when Desmond was 14. His grandfather, William Morris, was a keen naturalist. He also founded the local newspaper in Swindon. His grandfather greatly influenced Desmond during his time living in Swindon.

In July 1952, Morris married Ramona Baulch. They had one son, Jason. Ramona passed away in 2018. In 1978, Morris was chosen as vice-chairman of Oxford United, a football club. He designed the club's ox-head badge, which is still used today.

Morris lived in the same house in North Oxford as James Murray. Murray was a lexicographer who worked on the Oxford English Dictionary in the 19th century. Morris has shown his art at the Taurus Gallery in Oxford, near where he lived. He is a supporter of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Since his wife's death in 2018, he has lived with his son and family in Ireland.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Desmond Morris para niños