Louis, Mary & Richard Leakey Biography

Louis, Mary & Richard Leakey Biography

Full Name: Mr. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey / Mrs. Mary Douglas Leakey / Richard Erskine Frere Leakey
Date of Birth: August 7, 1903 / February 6, 1913 / December 19, 1944
Place of Birth: Kabete, Kenya / London, England /Nairobi, Kenya
Died: October 1, 1972 / December 9, 1996 / NA
Place of Death: London, England / London, England / NA
Classification: Scientists & Thinkers


Probably the most famous archaeological team worldwide, Louis, Mary, and Richard Leakey have taken science, archaeology, and evolution to new heights with their hominid discoveries in Africa. Louis Leakey was a famed archaeologist throughout the early and mid-1900s, and even hired three scientists to study apes in the wild. His ladies were dubbed Leakey’s Angels. Mary Leakey was not only Richard Leakey’s wife, but also an illustrator of his books. She, too, began studying with him on his expeditions. Their son named Richard Leakey worked without a scientific degree due to the pure call of the wild. He discovered skulls dating back millions of years and worked to save Kenya’s national parks and elephant populations.

Born in Kenya, young Louis Leakey learned the local dialects of the area where he grew up. He resided there until his teens then went to high school and university in England. His fascination with his findings of his childhood lured him back to Kenya later, this time as a scientist, after he completed his degree at Cambridge University. His main interests were finding the link between human and primates as he promoted more field research than anyone else at his time. His discovery of a skull named Zinjanthropus was a crucial link to human ancestry.

Louis married Mary after she illustrated his first book Adam’s Ancestors. The two had three children. Mary Leakey was as good in the field as she was an illustrator. She and her colleagues discovered the Rusinga Island fossil ape and other sites where primitive tools were found to have been used by hominids. She was also involved in what many consider the most important archeological find that has added one more piece to the puzzle of human heritage, the Laetoli Footprints.

Of the couple’s three sons, Richard Leakey stands out. He has also worked to discover human and primate connections in evolution. Although he didn’t receive a degree, his work in paleontology and conservationism is staggering. He was involved in finding the Turkana Boy, which was a nearly complete skeleton of a homo sapien skeleton of over 1.5 million years of age. He was also a staunch advocate for the protection of Kenya’s elephants. He even headed a governmental program where his units would shoot poachers on site. The program was hugely successful, although criticized. Richard Leakey has written several books including, The Illustrated Origin of Species, The Making of Mankind, and Wildlife Wars: My Battle to Save Kenya’s Elephants