Biography

Dian Fossey

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Dian Fossey was born on January 16, 1932 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was a director and writer, known for Gorillas in the Mist (1988), The World About Us (1967) and The American Sportsman (1965). She died on December 26, 1985 in Karisoke, Rwanda.

Dian Fossey was murdered on December 26, 1985, only three weeks away from what would have been her 54th birthday on January 16, 1986. Her murder still remains a mystery.
Two white Americans who were serving as her research assistants were arrested for the killing. One died in a Rwandan jail, and the other, Wayne McGuire, was convicted in absentia, after a three-judge panel in Rwanda said that McGuire killed her to gain access to her research. McGuire fled to the United States (which does not have an extradition agreement with Rwanda), where he has lived since the conviction. McGuire has denied any involvement in the killing and now works for a mental health agency in Oklahoma.
She was hacked to death in her jungle camp on the slopes of Rwanda's Mount Visoke, a 12,175-foot dormant volcano, where she resided among endangered mountain gorillas. Dian was buried next to her beloved animals in the gorilla cemetery.
Attended and graduated from San Jose State University (1954). Resided in Africa from 1963 until her death, with the exception of receiving her Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Cambridge in England (1970-1974), and teaching at Cornell University (1980-1982).
Along with Jane Goodall and Birute Galdikas, she was known as a "Trimate", one of the three most prominent researchers on primates. "Fossey" on gorillas, "Goodall" on chimpanzees and "Galdikas" on orangutans.

This book is about gorillas, not people.
When you understand the value of all life, you think less about what is past and think instead about the protection of the future.
[on childhood] When you realize the value of all life, you dwell on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.

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