Louis Leakey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey with his wife Mary in 1962
Born	Louis Seymour Bazet Leakey (1903-08-07)7 August 1903 Kabete, East Africa Protectorate
Died	1 October 1972(1972-10-01) (aged 69) London, England
Nationality	Kenyan, British
Known for	Pioneering the study of human evolution in Africa
Spouse(s)	Frida Avern ​ ​ (m. 1928; div. 1936)​ Mary Leakey ​ (m. 1936)​
Children	5, including Colin Leakey Richard Leakey Philip Leakey
Awards	Hubbard Medal (1962) Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal (1968) Prestwich Medal (1969)
Scientific career
Fields	Archaeology, paleoanthropology, paleontology

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (born August 7, 1903 – died October 1, 1972) was a famous Kenyan-British paleoanthropologist and archaeologist. He played a huge role in showing that humans first developed in Africa. He made many important discoveries, especially at Olduvai Gorge with his wife, Mary Leakey, who was also a paleoanthropologist.

Louis Leakey also inspired many people to study human history in eastern Africa. Several members of the Leakey family became well-known scientists themselves. Another important part of Leakey's work was encouraging the study of primates (like monkeys and apes) in their natural homes. He believed this was key to understanding human evolution. He especially supported three female researchers: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas. He called them "The Trimates," and they all became very important in studying primates. Leakey also helped create groups for future research and to protect wildlife in Africa.

Early Life and Family History

When I think back... of the serval cat and a baboon that I had as pets in my childhood days—and that eventually I had to house in large cages—it makes me sad. It makes me sadder still, however, and also very angry, when I think of the innumerable adult animals and birds deliberately caught and locked up for the so-called 'pleasure' and 'education' of thoughtless human beings.

Louis's parents, Harry and Mary Leakey, were missionaries from the Church of England. They lived in what was then called British East Africa, which is now Kenya. Harry Leakey worked with the Kikuyu people in a place called Kabete, near Nairobi. Their first home was very simple, with an earthen floor and a leaky roof. Over time, their mission station grew and improved. Harry worked on translating the Bible into the Gikuyu language.

Louis had a younger brother, Douglas, and two older sisters, Gladys and Julia. The Leakey children grew up playing and learning with the local Kikuyu children. Louis learned to speak the Gikuyu language very well, just like his brothers and sisters. He even learned to walk with the special gait of the Kikuyu people.

Louis loved nature from a young age. He built his own hut in the Kikuyu style at the end of the family garden. In this hut, he kept his collection of natural items, like birds' eggs and animal skulls. All the Leakey children enjoyed the wild surroundings. They often raised baby animals, which they later gave to zoos. Louis read a book called Days Before History, which sparked his interest in ancient times. He started collecting old tools. His father, who helped start the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society, also encouraged Louis's interest in nature and history.

Education and First Discoveries

Studying at Cambridge University

The Leakey children went to primary school in Britain and had a tutor in Africa. During World War I, the family stayed in Africa. In 1919, Louis went to Weymouth College, a private school for boys in England. He didn't do very well there. However, with help from a teacher, he applied to St John's College, Cambridge. He won a scholarship because of his excellent scores on the entrance exams.

Louis started at the University of Cambridge in 1922, following in his father's footsteps. He originally planned to become a missionary in East Africa. Louis often told a funny story about his final exams. He had told the university that he spoke Swahili fluently. When it was time for his final exams, he asked to be tested in Swahili. The university agreed. Then, he received two letters: one told him to show up for an oral exam in Swahili, and the other asked him to examine another student in Swahili at the same time and place!

Early Archaeological Work

In 1922, Britain gained control of German East Africa (now Tanganyika Territory). The Germans had found a place called Tendaguru that was full of dinosaur fossils. Louis was hired by the British Museum of Natural History to help with a fossil-hunting trip there. They went to Africa in 1924, but they never found a complete dinosaur skeleton. Louis was called back to Cambridge in 1925.

Louis then changed his focus to anthropology, which is the study of human societies and cultures. He found a new teacher, Alfred Cort Haddon, who led the anthropology department at Cambridge. In 1926, Louis graduated with high honors in anthropology and archaeology. He used his knowledge of Kikuyu as one of his required languages, even though no one at the university could test him on it. The university accepted a sworn statement from a Kikuyu chief instead.

From 1925 onwards, Louis gave talks and wrote about ancient human history in Africa. After graduating, he was so respected that Cambridge sent him back to East Africa to study early humans. He dug at many sites, carefully studying the tools and objects he found. Some of the names he gave to ancient cultures, like the Elmenteitan, are still used today.

Research and Discoveries

St. John's College, Cambridge.

In 1927, Louis met Frida Avern at a site called Gamble's Cave in Kenya. Frida had studied archaeology, and they started a relationship. They married in 1928 and continued working near Lake Elmenteita. Louis later gave some of his finds from Gamble's Cave to the British Museum. In 1928, he also found and dug at the Acheulean site of Kariandusi Prehistoric Site.

Because of his important work, Louis received a special research position at St John's College, Cambridge. He returned to Cambridge in 1929 to organize his finds. While cleaning two skeletons he had found, he noticed they looked similar to one found at Olduvai Gorge by a German professor named Hans Reck.

Olduvai Gorge in 2011.

The geology of Olduvai Gorge was already known. In 1913, Reck had found a skeleton there that he believed was 600,000 years old. This idea was very new and not widely accepted at the time. In 1929, Louis visited Reck in Berlin. When he saw an ancient stone tool from Olduvai in Reck's collection, Louis bet Reck that he could find more ancient tools at Olduvai within 24 hours.

Louis earned his PhD in 1930 when he was 27. His first child, a daughter named Priscilla, was born in 1931.

Challenges and New Beginnings

Confirming Ancient Discoveries

In November 1931, Louis led a trip to Olduvai Gorge, with Reck joining him. Louis won his bet by finding Acheulean tools within 24 hours. These tools helped prove that the skeleton Reck found in 1913, now called Olduvai Man, was indeed very old. Many ancient animal fossils and tools were found. Louis's wife, Frida, joined him later and helped with the excavations. One of her sites was named FLK, which stood for Frida Leakey's Karongo (meaning "gully").

When Louis returned to Cambridge, some scientists still doubted his findings. To find more proof, Louis went back to Africa and dug at sites called Kanam and Kanjera. He easily found more fossils, which he named Homo kanamensis. While he was away, some people tried to argue that the Olduvai Man skeleton wasn't as old as claimed. However, Louis's new finds were carefully checked by 26 scientists and were generally accepted as real.

Life on the Road in Africa

Louis met Mary Nicol (who would become Mary Leakey) in Africa. They traveled to Olduvai with a small group. Louis's parents wanted him to return to Frida, and they would only pay for everyone in the group except Mary. Despite this, Mary joined him. Her skills and hard work eventually impressed everyone. Louis and Mary explored many sites at Olduvai, finding dozens of places for future digs. They named these sites after the people who found them, like MNK for Mary Nicol's Karongo. They also helped the local Maasai people with a temporary clinic and studied ancient rock paintings.

Returning to England and Hard Times

Steen Cottage, Nasty, Great Munden in 2011

In 1935, Louis and Mary returned to England. They didn't have jobs or a place to live, so they stayed at Mary's mother's apartment. Soon, they rented a small house called Steen Cottage in Great Munden, Hertfordshire. It was a very simple house with no heat, electricity, or indoor plumbing. They had to get water from a well and use oil lamps to see. They lived in poverty for about 18 months. Louis grew vegetables to eat and worked on improving the house. He eventually asked the Royal Society for help, and they gave him a small grant to continue working on his fossil collection.

Work in British East Africa

Back to Kenya

Louis had already been involved in Kikuyu tribal matters since 1928. In 1936, he received a grant to write a study about the Kikuyu people. In January 1937, the Leakeys traveled back to Kenya. Louis worked with Kikuyu chiefs to describe their traditional ways of life. Mary, meanwhile, dug at Waterfall Cave. She became very ill with pneumonia but recovered. She then started new excavations at Hyrax Hill and Njoro River Cave. Louis got more funding, which he partly used for fossil hunting. News of Leakey's discoveries began appearing in newspapers again.

Tensions grew between the Kikuyu people and the European settlers. Louis tried to find a middle ground. In his book Kenya: Contrasts and Problems, he upset settlers by saying that Kenya could never be a "white man's country."

Working for the Government

The government offered Louis a job in intelligence, which he accepted. He traveled around the country, pretending to be a traveling salesman, and reported on what people were saying. In September 1939, when Britain went to war, the Kenyan government asked Louis to join its African intelligence service. He helped supply and arm Ethiopian fighters against the Italian invaders. He used his childhood friends among the Kikuyu to create a secret network. They also secretly hunted for fossils.

Louis questioned people, analyzed handwriting, wrote radio broadcasts, and handled police investigations. He loved solving mysteries. He also helped British officers understand Kikuyu culture.

Mary continued to find and dig at sites. In 1940, their son Jonathan Leakey was born. Mary worked at the Coryndon Memorial Museum (now the National Museums of Kenya), where Louis joined her as an unpaid curator in 1941. Their lives were a mix of police work and archaeology. They investigated Rusinga Island and Olorgesailie. At Olorgesailie, they even had help from Italian prisoners of war.

In 1942, their daughter Deborah was born but sadly died at three months old. They lived in a rundown house provided by the museum. Their son Jonathan was even attacked by army ants in his crib.

A Turning Point

In 1944, Richard Leakey was born. By 1945, Louis's income from police work almost disappeared. He started getting many job offers, but he chose to stay in Kenya as the Curator of the Coryndon Museum. This gave him a salary and a house, but most importantly, it allowed him to continue his paleoanthropological research.

In January 1947, Louis organized the first Pan-African Congress of Prehistory in Nairobi. Sixty scientists from 26 countries attended, sharing their research and visiting the Leakey sites. This conference brought Louis back into the main scientific community and made him a very important figure. With new money coming in, Louis started famous expeditions in 1948 and later at Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria. There, Mary discovered the most complete fossil of Proconsul found up to that time.

A man named Charles Watson Boise donated money for a boat, The Miocene Lady, to be used for transport on Lake Victoria. Its captain, Hassan Salimu, later took Jane Goodall to Gombe. Their son Philip Leakey was born in 1949. In 1950, Louis received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

Involvement in Kenyan Politics

... I sought a personal interview with the governor, hoping to make him appreciate that it was no longer possible to continue along the lines of the old colonial regime. ... Colonial governors and senior civil servants are not easy people to argue with; and, of course, I was not popular, because of my criticism of the colonial service ... Had it been possible to make the government open its eyes to the realities of the situation, I believe that the whole miserable episode of what is frequently spoken of as 'the Mau Mau rebellion' need never have taken place.

While the Leakeys were at Lake Victoria, the Kikuyu people began to resist the European settlers. In 1949, the Kikuyu formed a secret group called the Mau Mau. This group attacked settlers and Kikuyu who were loyal to the British.

Louis had tried to warn the governor, Sir Philip Mitchell, that unusual meetings and forced oaths were happening among the Kikuyu, which could lead to violence. But he was ignored. Now, Louis was asked to investigate the Mau Mau. His life was threatened, and a reward was offered for his capture. The Leakeys started carrying pistols, which they jokingly called "European National Dress." The government even gave him 24-hour protection.

In 1952, after a Mau Mau attack on pro-British chiefs, the government arrested Jomo Kenyatta, who was the president of the Kenya African Union. Louis was asked to be a court interpreter. He later withdrew from this role but returned to translate documents. Kenyatta was found guilty and sentenced to hard labor.

The government brought in British troops and formed a home guard of 20,000 Kikuyu. During this time, Louis played a complex role. He worked with the settlers, acting as their spokesperson and intelligence officer, helping to find groups of fighters. On the other hand, he continued to support the Kikuyu in his 1954 book Defeating Mau Mau and in many talks and articles. He suggested a government with people of all races, land reform, and higher wages for the Kikuyu. Most of these ideas were eventually put into action.

The rebellion continued until 1956. In 1963, Kenya became an independent country, with Jomo Kenyatta as its prime minister.

Important Discoveries in Paleoanthropology

Olduvai Gorge Excavations

We know from the study of evolution that, again and again, various branches of animal stock have become over-specialized, and that over-specialization has led to their extinction. Present-day Homo sapiens is in many physical respects still very unspecialized ... But in one thing man, as we know him today, is over-specialized. His brain power is very over-specialized compared to the rest of his physical make-up, and it may well be that this over-specialization will lead, just as surely, to his extinction. ... if we are to control our future, we must first understand the past better.

Starting in 1951, Louis and Mary began serious research at Olduvai Gorge. They found what Louis called an Oldowan "slaughter-house," which was an ancient swamp where animals had been trapped and butchered.

In 1959, Mary made a very important discovery at Olduvai. While Louis was sick in camp, Mary found a fossilized skull called OH 5. Louis famously named it "Zinjanthropus." There was a debate about whether this fossil belonged to a known group called Paranthropus or a new group that was an ancestor to humans. Louis believed it was a new group, and this discovery caught the attention of Melville Bell Grosvenor, the president of the National Geographic Society. This led to an article in National Geographic magazine and a large grant to continue their work at Olduvai.

In 1960, scientists used special dating methods to find out that the oldest layers at Olduvai were between 1.89 and 1.75 million years old. This confirmed that very old human-like fossils existed in Africa.

In 1960, Louis made Mary the director of excavations at Olduvai. She hired a team of Kamba assistants, including Kamoya Kimeu, who later found many famous fossils in eastern Africa. Mary set up her own camp and began working with her team.

At another site, Louis's son Jonathan found two skull pieces that didn't have the bony ridge seen in Australopithecine fossils. Mary thought they were similar to a fossil called Telanthropus. In 1960, Louis, his son Philip, and Ray Pickering found another fossil they called "Chellean Man" (Olduvai Hominid 9). This fossil was later identified as Homo erectus and was about 1.4 million years old.

In 1961, Louis received a salary and a grant from the National Geographic Society. He created the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology and moved his collections there, becoming its director. This became his new main office. He also started another excavation at Fort Ternan in Kenya. Soon after, a fossil called Kenyapithecus wickeri was discovered there.

In 1962, while Louis was visiting Olduvai, a team member named Ndibo Mbuika found the first tooth of Homo habilis. Louis and Mary thought it was a female and named her Cinderella. Scientists later named this new species Homo habilis, which means "handyman." It was seen as a link between the earlier Australopithecus and Homo species.

Calico Hills Project

In 1959, Louis Leakey met Ruth DeEtte Simpson, an archaeologist from California, at the British Museum of Natural History. Simpson showed him what looked like ancient stone scrapers she had found at a site in the Calico Hills in California.

In 1963, Leakey got money from the National Geographic Society and started digging with Simpson at the Calico Hills site. They found stone artifacts that were believed to be 100,000 years old or even older. This suggested that humans were in North America much earlier than most scientists thought.

However, a geologist named Vance Haynes visited the site and claimed that the objects Leakey found were not tools made by humans. He believed they were naturally formed rocks that had broken in an ancient river.

In her autobiography, Mary Leakey wrote that Louis's involvement with the Calico Hills site caused her to lose some academic respect for him. She felt the project was "catastrophic to his professional career."

The Trimates: Studying Primates

One of Louis Leakey's most important contributions was encouraging the study of primates in their natural homes. He believed this was essential for understanding human evolution. He personally chose three female researchers to lead these studies: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas. He called them "The Trimates." Each of them became a very important scientist in the field of primatology. They spent years studying chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, respectively. Louis believed that women were better at studying primates than men. He also supported many other PhD students, especially from Cambridge University.

Later Years and Legacy

In his final years, Louis Leakey became well-known for his lectures in the United Kingdom and the United States. He no longer did much digging himself because of arthritis, and he had hip replacement surgery in 1968. Instead, he raised money and guided his family and other scientists. In Kenya, he helped hundreds of scientists explore the East African Rift system for fossils.

In 1968, Louis refused an honorary doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg because of apartheid (racial segregation) in South Africa. Mary, however, accepted one. After this, their professional lives became more separate.

In his last few years, Louis's health got worse. He had his first heart attacks and spent six months in the hospital. He died on October 1, 1972, at the age of 69, from a heart attack in London.

Mary wanted to cremate Louis and fly his ashes back to Nairobi. But his son Richard wanted him buried in Kenya. Louis's body was flown home and buried at Limuru, near his parents' graves. A year later, when Richard went to place a stone on the grave, he found one already there. It had an inscription signed "ILYUA," which stood for "I'll love you always," from Louis's former secretary. Richard left it there.

Important Organizations Leakey Helped Create

• In 1947, Leakey was key in organizing the first PanAfrican Archaeological Association congress in Nairobi. He was its president from 1955 to 1959.
• In 1958, Leakey founded the Tigoni Primate Research Center. This center later became the Institute of Primate Research in Nairobi. It helped fund the work of "Leakey's Angels" (The Trimates).
• In 1961, Leakey created the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology, where he moved his collections and became director.
• In 1968, Leakey helped start The Leakey Foundation. This foundation continues his life's work in studying human origins and is a major funder of human-origins research in the United States today.

Prominent Family Members

Louis Leakey was married to Mary Leakey, who made the amazing discovery of fossil footprints at Laetoli. These footprints, found in volcanic ash in Tanzania, are the earliest evidence of human-like creatures walking upright.

He is also the father of paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and the botanist Colin Leakey. Louis's cousin, Nigel Gray Leakey, received the Victoria Cross (a very brave award) during World War II.

Books by Louis Leakey

Louis Leakey wrote many books and articles. He was the first in the Leakey family to publish in the famous science journal Nature.

See also

• Calico Early Man Site
• Nigel Leakey Louis' cousin
• Leakey family
• List of fossil sites
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils