Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey
1903-1972
British Kenyan Archaeologist and Anthropologist
Whenever a scientist makes a discovery that challenges the established information of his or her time, the result is predictable—controversy. This was certainly the case during the illustrious career of anthropologist Louis Leakey.
Born on August 7, 1903, to British missionaries stationed in Kabete, just outside Nairobi in Kenya, Leakey grew up with the Kikuyu people of that area. He played with their children, learned their customs and culture, and received his early schooling from his parents.
He later returned to England, where he attended Cambridge University and majored in anthropology. When his initial schooling there was completed in 1926, he applied for and received a position to join an archaeological mission in Tanzania, where he put his childhood experiences to good use. When the assignment was completed, he returned to Cambridge for additional studies and in 1930 received his Ph.D. in African prehistory. He was also elected a fellow of St. John's in Cambridge.
When this phase of his education was completed, Leakey returned to Tanzania and entered into what would be the future site of his important discoveries. He focused on the Olduvai Gorge, where he uncovered numerous animal fossils and primitive stone tools. He had always believed that Africa was the home of the earliest men on earth, and the artifacts and bones he found confirmed that opinion. When he published his first book, The Stone Age Cultures of Kenya Colony, St. John's College gave him a grant that enabled him to continue his studies in Olduvai Gorge. He subsequently discovered the oldest-known skeletal remains of Homo sapiens. Although his academic associates refuted his claim, Leakey eventually uncovered even older skulls whose age could be verified.
Returning to England, Leakey was disappointed to learn that his reputation had suffered because of the controversial results of his early finds. He held a conference at Cambridge soon after his return, and the solid evidence he produced caused the objectors to revise their opinions and accept his discoveries as genuine.
Louis Leakey. (AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.)Although Leakey's academic career was flourishing, his personal life became increasingly strained. While married to Frida Avern (a fellow Briton whom he had met in Africa), Leakey fell in love with Mary Nicol (1913-1996), a scientific illustrator. He pursued this affair even though he had a son and his wife was pregnant with their second child. In spite of these deterrents, Mary went to Africa with Leakey and, when he returned to England in 1935, she also returned and lived openly with him. Frida filed for divorce in 1936, enabling Louis and Mary to marry.
In 1945 Leakey accepted the curatorship of the Coryndon Museum in Kenya. The pay was very low but it meant he could continue his research in Kenya. As a team, the Leakeys were remarkably successful. They found an important Miocene ape fossil in 1948—important enough for them to secure funding for additional research.
Later, Leakey was instrumental in starting both Jane Goodall (1934- ) and Dian Fossey (1932-1985) on their impressive research projects in Africa. He also became involved with a primate research center, an Ethiopian dig, and a dig in California where there were rumors of ancient human remains at Calico Hills. However, Leakey is best remembered for his great discoveries of hominid fossils in his favorite site—the Olduvai Gorge.
Leakey's last years were spent traveling, mostly in America, where he was a popular speaker and public personality. He died in England in October 1972.
A few days prior to Leakey's death, his son, Richard Leakey (1944- ), from whom he had been long estranged, showed him a new fossil skull (ER 1470). This fossil reinforced Louis Leakey's early beliefs that the genus Homo had its own long history and was not a descendant of the so-called "missing link." Although his last years had been difficult, this reconciliation with his son made his final days especially meaningful.
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