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Joy Adamson (1910-1980) is best known for the books and films depicting her work in Africa with "Elsa the Lioness," introduced in her book Born Free. Together with husband George Adamson, she raised the orphaned Elsa from a cub and trained the lioness to fend for herself in the wild. Adamson spent almost 40 years living on game reserves in Kenya, and became heavily involved in wildlife preservation activities.
Noted naturalist and wildlife preservationist Joy Adamson was born Friederike Victoria Gessner, in 1910, to a wealthy Austrian family; her birthplace in the Silesian region of Austria is now part of Slovakia. In her autobiography, The Searching Spirit, Adamson tells of a childhood game that foretold her future: "Was it a portent that as children our favorite game was a lion hunt and that because of my blond hair and reputation for being a quick runner, I was always assigned the role of the lioness"" Hunting was a favorite sport on her family's estate but, after she shot a deer with the estate's gamekeeper while a teenager, Adamson vowed never to kill for sport again.
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