ANTHROPOLOGIST

Jane Goodall

1934 - 2025

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Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall (née Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025) was an English primatologist and anthropologist. Regarded as a pioneer in primate ethology, and described by many publications as "the world's preeminent chimpanzee expert", she was best known for more than six decades of field research on the social and family life of wild chimpanzees in the Kasakela chimpanzee community at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Beginning in 1960, under the mentorship of the palaeontologist Louis Leakey, Goodall's research demonstrated that chimpanzees share many key traits with humans, such as using tools, having complex emotions, forming lasting social bonds, engaging in organised warfare, and passing on knowledge across generations, which redefined the traditional view that humans are uniquely different from other animals. In 1965 Goodall was awarded a PhD in ethology from the University of Cambridge. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Jane Goodall is the 3rd most popular anthropologist (up from 4th in 2019), the 289th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 272nd in 2019) and the most popular British Anthropologist.

Jane Goodall is most famous for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania. She is also an author, lecturer, and animal rights activist.

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Among ANTHROPOLOGISTS

Among anthropologists, Jane Goodall ranks 3 out of 93. Before her are Claude Lévi-Strauss, and Bronisław Malinowski. After her are James George Frazer, Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis H. Morgan, A. L. Kroeber, Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Franz Boas, Paul Broca, and Gregory Bateson.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1934, Jane Goodall ranks 20. Before her are Carl Sagan, Leonid Kravchuk, Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., Giovanni Battista Re, Nana Mouskouri, and Judi Dench. After her are Daniel Kahneman, Shirley MacLaine, Tarcisio Bertone, William F. Sharpe, Manuel Noriega, and Stjepan Mesić. Among people deceased in 2025, Jane Goodall ranks 16. Before her are Robert Redford, Richard Chamberlain, Giorgio Armani, Ozzy Osbourne, Val Kilmer, and Brian Wilson. After her are Sebastião Salgado, Leo Beenhakker, Eddie Jordan, Khamtai Siphandon, Ion Iliescu, and Ágnes Keleti.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Jane Goodall ranks 289 out of 8,785. Before her are Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (1964), Judi Dench (1934), David Gilmour (1946), Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341), Thomas Henry Huxley (1825), and Thomas Young (1773). After her are Jason Statham (1967), Henry I of England (1068), James Black (1924), Mary Tudor, Queen of France (1496), Francis William Aston (1877), and George Best (1946).

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Among ANTHROPOLOGISTS In United Kingdom

Among anthropologists born in United Kingdom, Jane Goodall ranks 1. After her are James George Frazer (1854), Edward Burnett Tylor (1832), Gregory Bateson (1904), Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (1881), E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1902), Mary Leakey (1913), Victor Turner (1920), Edmund Leach (1910), Ashley Montagu (1905), Jack Goody (1919), and Hugh Falconer (1808).

British born Anthropologists

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