Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds

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Friederike Victoria " Joy" Adamson ( née Gessner; 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. Born Free was printed in several languages, and made into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same name. In 1977, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. [1] Biography [ edit ] She spent the rest of her life raising money for wildlife, thanks to the popularity of Born Free. The book was followed by Living Free, which is about Elsa as a mother to her cubs, and Forever Free, which tells of the release of the cubs Jespah, Gopa and Little Elsa. Adamson shared book proceeds with various conservation projects. [2]

Born to Victor and Traute Gessner in Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary (now Opava, Czech Republic) and was the 2nd of 3 girls. Her father was a wealthy architect. After the divorce of her parents, Joy went to live with her grandmother. In her autobiography The Searching Spirit, Adamson wrote about her grandmother, saying, "It is to her I owe anything that may be good in me." Lastly, it was all together hard for me to forget the fact that the story is based on a mistake that they failed to correct - shooting Elsa's mother. She failed to let go of Elsa once she was independent, and repeated the same mistake with the cubs. Fantastic story, Elsa absolutely captured my heart. However, I have a few issues with the writer's approach to conservation. Adamson was born to Victor and Traute Gessner ( née Greipel) in Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary [2] (now Opava, Czech Republic), the second of three daughters. Her parents died when she was 10, and she went to live with her grandmother. In her autobiography The Searching Spirit, Adamson wrote about her grandmother, saying, "It is to her I owe anything that may be good in me". [ citation needed] Vasagar, Jeevan (8 February 2004). "Interview with Paul Nakware Ekai". The Guardian. London, England . Retrieved 20 September 2014.

Born Free received the World Tourism Award for impact saving wildlife and working with local communities across the globe. We launched our long-term human-carnivore conflict mitigation programme ‘Pride of Amboseli’ in Kenya, with a focus on predator-proof bomas. Born Free USA launched an ongoing project to rescue monkeys from laboratories and give them lifetime care in their spacious Texas Primate Sanctuary.

a b c Loewen Haag, Karin (1 January 2002). "Adamson, Joy (1910–1980)". Archived from the original on 29 March 2015 . Retrieved 31 January 2015– via HighBeam Research. We established the Satpuda Landscape Tiger Programme, with a network of local conservationists, to develop community projects and save the wild tiger in India’s forests. I was expecting something like The Lion King but then I remembered real life isn't a Disney movie. What an incredibly impactful book. Elsa's story is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. Her legacy continues to inspire millions of people around the world. Our huge ivory trade campaign, including a petition of 600,000 signatures, contributed to CITES imposing an international commercial ivory trade ban.

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But it’s not just a pretty book. The 30 articles explain our rights as human beings, simply and matter-of-factly. For example: “We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.” Some of the pictures are amusing, others are poignant. Each article is a rich stimulus for discussion and wondering, and will help children empathise with others. Joy Adamson’s story of a lion cub in transition between the captivity in which she is raised and the fearsome wild to which she is returned captures the abilities of both humans and animals to cross the seemingly unbridgeable gap between their radically different worlds. Especially now, at a time when the sanctity of the wild and its inhabitants is increasingly threatened by human development and natural disaster, Adamson’s remarkable tale is an idyll, and a model, to return to again and again. We helped the Kenya Wildlife Service move 29 threatened elephants from Shimba Hills to Tsavo East National Park. We launched an extensive lion conservation project in Meru National Park in Kenya, the stunning landscape where Elsa the lioness was returned to the wild.

Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill passed in April – a landmark law recognising animals have feelings. The one-hour Nature documentary Elsa's Legacy: The Born Free Story was released on PBS stations in January 2011. It includes a collection of archival footage and an exploration into the lives of Joy and George Adamson during the years following release of the film. [15] See also [ edit ]Running throughout 2022, Born Free’s ‘Year of the Lion’, the Born Free Forever life-size bronze lions honoured what would have been the 100th birthday year of Bill Travers MBE, our fearless Co-Founder. She grew up on an estate near Vienna, was educated in Vienna earning a music degree before studying sculpting and medicine. As a young adult, Adamson considered careers as a concert pianist, and in medicine. [ citation needed]