The global scientific community is mourning after Jane Goodall death was announced on Wednesday, October 1.
The legendary primatologist, anthropologist, and conservationist died at the age of 91 while in California.
According to the Jane Goodall Institute, she passed of natural causes during a speaking tour of the United States.
Goodall, a UN Messenger of Peace and founder of the institute that bears her name, was widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century.
Her pioneering work on chimpanzees spanned almost seven decades and forever reshaped how humans understand primates.
Her institute described her legacy in a statement: “Her discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world.”
However, her passing still came as a shock to many who followed her recent active schedule.
Despite her age, she remained a visible global voice on environmental issues.
Goodall was only 26 when she first traveled to Tanzania to begin her now-famous research on wild chimpanzees.
Moreover, her work revealed that primates shared strikingly human-like traits.
She demonstrated that chimpanzees had individual personalities and could make and use tools an idea once thought to separate humans from other animals.
Among her many reflections, Goodall once explained what surprised her most about the species.
“Their behavior, with their gestures, kissing, embracing, holding hands and patting on the back,” she told ABC News in 2020. “…The fact that they can actually be violent and brutal and have a kind of war, but also loving and altruistic.”
That revelation, described by the Jane Goodall Institute as one of the great achievements of modern scholarship, transformed the scientific world’s view of animal intelligence and social behavior.
Furthermore, her groundbreaking contributions earned her international recognition.
In 1995, she was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, later promoted to Dame Commander in 2003.
She also received the French Legion of Honor, Japan’s Kyoto Prize, and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in America.
Meanwhile, Goodall’s personal life also attracted interest. She married Dutch wildlife photographer Baron Hugo van Lawick, with whom she had one son, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick.
She later married Tanzanian parliament member Derek Bryceson, who died of cancer in 1980. Goodall is survived by her son and three grandchildren.
RIP great one