Women in History: Joy Adamson, Author of Born Free

Born Friederike Victoria Gessner to a wealthy Australian family, she once killed a live deer while hunting with her family. She vowed never to kill for sport again

Adamson married Victor von Klarwill. As Klarwill was Jewish, the two decided to leave Austria to avoid the Nazis and go to Africa. Adamson left ahead of Klarwill and met Peter Bally, a botanist, on the voyage. Upon arrival, Klarwill learned of Adamson's intention to divorce him and she and Bally were married shortly after.

Adamson and Bally traveled throughout Kenya; he was studying the plant life and she was painting it.

again, Adamson divorced and remarried, this time to George Adamson. George Adamson was a game warden in Kenya and it was he who gave his wife the nickname "Joy."

Through this marriage, Adamson began working with wildlife conservation. George was forced to kill an attacking lioness trying to protect her three cubs. The Adamson kept one of the cubs and donated the other two to a zoo.

They named the cub Elsa. Adamson kept notes of the story of Elsa and with these notes and George's journal, she wrote the book "Born Free" (1960, Harvill Press). The Adamsons had taught Elsa survival skills - how to hunt for food and water, protecting herself and other skills inherent to wildlife but dormant in captivity.

The story enchanted the world and was adapted to the big screen in 1966, winning two Academy awards for music.

Adamson continued writing about her experiences with African wildlife. "Living Free" was a continuation of the story of Elsa as mother to her cubs and "Forever Free" followed Elsa's cubs, Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa, throughout their lives.

The Adamsons eventually went their separate ways, though they never divorced. Adamson raised a cheetah cub "Pippa" after Pippa had four litters, Adamson wrote "The Spotted Sphinx" and "Pippa's Challenge."

Adamson got one of her wishes: she had always wanted to raise an African leopard. Penny, an African leopard was given to her when she was only 8 weeks old. after Penny had her two litters, Adamson wrote "Queen of Sheba" which was published posthumously.

Adamson's body was found Jan. 3, 1980 by Peter Morson or Mawson, who was her assistant. Initially Adamson was reported to have been killed by a lion, but closer inspection revealed it was murder.

Paul Ekai, a staff member fired by Adamson, was charged with her murder. Ekai confessed, but later recanted. He continues to maintain that he confessed under duress.

Adamson spent much of her life and energy educating the public about wildlife conservation, making appearances and speaking about the importance of conserving wildlife. Much of the proceeds from her book sales went to wildlife conservation causes.

Adamson was reportedly one of the founders of the World Wildlife Fund. [1]

Adamson created some 700 paintings, many of them housed at the National Museum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sources:
[1] Notable Biographies
Famous-People.info