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Jane Goodall dies: Who were her husbands Baron Hugo, Derek Bryceson, and kids? Family details here
Dr Jane Goodall, world renowned, chimpanzee specialist died at the age of 91.
Dr Jane Goodall, world renowned, chimpanzee specialist died, on October 1, at the age of 91.
A statement announcing her death read: “The Jane Goodall Institute has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute has passed away due to natural causes. She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.”
Jane Goodall family
Dr Jane Goodall was married twice. Her husbands were Baron Hugo van Lawick, the Dutch nobleman and wildlife photographer. The two had a son, Hugo Eric Louis. They divorced in 1974, after about ten years of marriage.
Goodall married Derek Bryceson a year later. He was a member of Tanzania's parliament and the director of their national parks. He died of cancer in 1980.
Speaking to People about never marrying after that, Goodall, had said “Well, I didn't want to. I didn't meet the right person, I suppose, or potentially the right person.” She spoke to the publication at 86, and had lost her husband when she was 46. “I had lots of men friends, many, I had lots of women friends too. My life was complete. I didn't need a husband,” she had added.
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Goodall was the older of two sisters and was born to Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall, an engineer, and Vanna (Joseph) Morris-Goodall, a novelist. Her sister is Judy Goodall. Her love for animals and the outdoors came from an early age. Goodall had several pets growing up, including Rusty, a beloved dog, along with a pony and a tortoise, National Geographic reported.
Her love for Africa developed when she was eight and reading Tarzan and Dr Doolittle. At 23, after some struggle, Goodall finally left for Africa to visit a friend whose family lived outside Nairobi in Kenya. There, she met paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, and set off on a course that would eventually see her become a world renowned primatologist and chimpanzee expert.
