Biography of louis leakey

  • What is louis leakey famous for
  • What did louis leakey do
  • Louis leakey cause of death

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    Louis Leakey
    by
    Matthew R. Goodrum
    • LAST REVIEWED: 28 April 2014
    • LAST MODIFIED: 28 April 2014
    • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199766567-0023

  • Clark, John Desmond. 1973. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, 1903–1972: Proceedings of the British Academy, 447–471. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy.

    An informative biographical sketch of Leakey’s life and work. Outlines his early archaeological expeditions and discusses his major publications, his activities during World War II, and the major discoveries at Olduvai Gorge. Contains a useful account of the creation of the Centre for Prehistory and Paleontology and provides a handy list of the awards he received and honorary lectures he delivered during his career. Reprinted in Human origins: Louis Leakey and the East African evidence, cited in this section.

  • Cole, Sonia Mary. 1975. Leakey’s luck: The life of Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, 1903–1972. London: Collins.

    Offers a detai

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    The Leakey Family

    Louis and Mary Leakey were monumental figures in the field of paleoanthropology and their groundbreaking discoveries helped shape our understanding of human origins. Now, the Leakey family is synonymous with the study of human evolution, with three generations making important contributions to science.

    Louis Leakey

    Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (1903-1972) was a Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist who became one of the most iconic scientists of the twentieth century. In addition to his many fossil and stone tool discoveries, Louis Leakey was a passionate naturalist, a prolific writer, and a gifted showman with a talent for publicizing scientific discoveries to a broad public audience.

    Leakey was born on August 7, 1903, at Kabete Mission near Nairobi, Kenya. His parents, Harry and Mary (Bazett) Leakey, were English missionaries to the Kikuyu tribe in the highlands west of Nairobi overlooking the Rift Valley. He spent the first sixteen years of his life in Kenya an

  • biography of louis leakey

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    Louis Leakey

    (1903-1972)

    Who Was Louis Leakey?

    Paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, with wife Mary Leakey, established an excavation site at Olduvai Gorge to search for fossils. The team made unprecedented discoveries of hominids millions of years old linked to human evolution, including H. habilis and H. erectus. Leakey, an avid lecturer and author who also worked in primatology, died on October 1, 1972.

    Early Years

    Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was born on August 7, 1903, in Kabete, Kenya, and was raised by English missionary parents among the Kikuyu people. In 1921, he travelled to England to be educated in anthropology and archaeology at St. John's College, Cambridge University, ultimately earning his doctorate in African prehistory. He held fast to Charles Darwin's belief that humanity had originated from Africa, defying conventional beliefs that the species' origins were from Asia or Europe.

    Union with Mary Leakey

    Leakey returned to the continent of his birth to take