In 1984 the whole world recognized him as the most famous paleontologist thanks to the discovery of the most famous fossil: a Homo Sapiens skeleton dating back to about 1.5 million years ago. Richard Leakey, who died at 77, bequeathed a large compendium that enriched the knowledge of humanity. He was born in Nairobi on December 19, 1944, the son of Louis and Mary, perhaps the best known discoverers of ancestral hominids.
When he was just a 23-year-old with no formal archaeological training when he won a scholarship to dig on the shores of Northern Kenya's Lake Turkana. In the 1970s, he led expeditions that shed new light on the scientific understanding of human evolution, with the discovery of the skulls of Homo habilis (1.9 million years) in 1972 and Homo erectus (1.6 million years) in 1975.
Many will remember the cover of "Time" magazine in which he poses with a model of Homo habilis, under the title "How Man Became Man". In 1989 Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi appointed him head of the national wildlife agency, which became the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). His was the spectacular publicity stunt of burning an ivory pyre by setting fire to 12 tons of tusks, pointing out that once removed from elephants they were of no value.
After being diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease in 1969, he had received a kidney transplant from his brother and made a full recovery. In 1993 his Cessna plane crashed to the ground but Leakey survived, losing both legs.
(Unioneonline / ss)
