George Alexander Graham AdamsonMBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the Baba ya Simba ("Father of Lions" in Swahili),[1] was a British wildlife conservationist and author based in Kenya. His wife Joy Adamson related in her best-selling book Born Free (1960) (in 1966 made into a film) the couple's life with Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lioness cub they raised and later released into the wild.
Life
George Alexander Graham Adamson was born on 3 February 1906 in Etawah, India[2] to English and Irish parents. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham, England, and moved to work on his father's coffee plantations in Kenya in 1924. After the death of his parents he worked in a series of jobs, which included gold prospector, goat trader and professional safarihunter,[3] before joining Kenya's wildlife department in 1938,[3] working as a game warden. Six years later he married Friederike Victoria "Joy" Gessner.[3] (who became the best-selling author Joy Adamson). It was in 1956 that he raised the lioness cub, Elsa, which he later released into the wild, which adventure became the subject of his wife's best-selling book Born Free (1960), later in 1966 made into the feature film Born Free.
Adamson retired as a Senior Wildlife Warden of the Northern Frontier District Province of Kenya (Meru National Park area) in 1961 and devoted himself to raising lions that could not look after themselves and training them to survive in the wild. In 1970, he moved to the Kora National Reserve in northern Kenya to continue the rehabilitation of captive or orphaned big cats for eventual reintroduction into the wild. George and Joy separated in 1970, but continued to spend Christmas holidays together until she was murdered on 3 January 1980.
Death
On 20 August 1989, George Adamson was murdered near his camp in Kora National Park, by Somali bandits, when he went to the rescue of his assistant and a young European tourist in the Kora National Park. He was 83 years old. George is buried in the Kora National Park next to his brother, Terrance and two lions named: Super Cub and Mugie, a lion released in Kora after George's death.[2]
Film and television
Born Free (1966), based on the book of the same name by Joy Adamson about Elsa the Lioness, that was rehabilitated into the wild, but remained in a friendly relationship with the Adamsons. The film stars Virginia McKenna as Joy Adamson and Bill Travers as George Adamson. George Adamson served as Chief Technical Advisor.
The Lions Are Free (1967) is the true story of what happened to the lions Boy, Girl, Ugas, Mara, Henrietta and Little Elsa, and other lions which starred in Born Free. George Adamson rehabilitated many of these lions after Born Free was completed. It is a documentary-style film about George Adamson and his lions.
An Elephant Called Slowly (1969) is a travelogue featuring George Adamson, Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna.
Lord of the Lions...Adamson of Africa was filmed in the Kora Reserve in Kenya only months before George was murdered (about 53 minutes)
Christian the Lion (1972) is a documentary of Christian the lion and his journey to George Adamson; it was written, produced and directed by Bill Travers and James Hill, the director of Born Free.
