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The world has lost a trailblazing legend
Dr. Jane Goodall, an anthropologist, a primatologist, and a conservationist, died aged 91 while on a U.S. tour to deliver her speech
Dr. Jane Goodall — a ground-breaking scientist, whose new and enlightened thoughts based on her research with chimpanzees led to the rewriting of man’s understanding of the earth and ultimately his place on it — has passed away at 91 years of age.
According to a statement by The Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Goodall, a highly regarded recipient of the UN Messenger of Peace award, died of natural causes on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at her home in California before her tour.
“Due to natural causes, she left the planet,” stated The Jane Goodall Institute on Facebook. “As part of her US tour, she was in California.”
A Legacy That Changed the Course of Science
One more thing that her institution said by the announcement was: “Through the study of animal behavior, Dr. Goodall’s revolutionary changes of the scientific world’s entire course, and she was not only a very strong supporter of giving back to the planet but also of its protection.” In the 1960s, her chimpanzee study that was very popular, helped her become very famous in the whole world and she is a native of London. Her intense field research made primates the subject of the once unknown aspects of behavior, intelligence and social relationships which had even been unnoticed, thus the knowledge of the animal kingdom has been altered greatly and in a very enduring way.
Her scholarly trial was equally exceptional. After a few years of intense research in Gombe Stream National Park, she ended up being just the eighth person to be awarded a Ph.D. from Cambridge University without the need for an undergraduate degree — a clear indication of the profundity and the importance of her early research.
A Life Devoted to Advocacy
Goodall, in fact, spent the following years after her early discoveries not only doing scientific research but also being an excellent advocate for the welfare of animals and the environment. She has become one of the most respected voices in global discussions about saving the Earth and all its inhabitants.
“I think I was given one mission on this planet,” Goodall said in her final interview, the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper, recorded on May 21, the day before her 91st birthday. “We’re in the middle of a crisis and the biggest problem is that people are losing hope,” she added.
Not only an activist, but a devoted mother, Goodall is survived by her son, Hugo Eric Louis “Grub” van Lawick, 58, whom she had with wildlife photographer Baron Hugo van Lawick, her first husband.
Inspiring Hope in Dark Times
Goodall very frequently stressed the necessity of personal action, that is, the individual’s especially in front of such huge global problems. “Quite a lot of people tell me: ‘I see so much that goes wrong with the world and I only feel powerless,’” she said. “And I add, ‘No, you cannot fix the whole world’s problems, but what about your living area, your local community? Is it possible that something is there?’”
Her steadfast optimism was from the very start of her life. Goodall declared that she was “a kid who really loved animals,” an enthusiasm greatly supported by the book The Story of Doctor Dolittle and Tarzan of the Apes — all books that gave her the idea of living with animals in the forest as well as in nature.
Dreams That Shaped a Lifetime
Once, she joked, “What did Tarzan do? He married the wrong Jane.” “That’s when my dream started. I would grow up, go to Africa, live with the wild animals and write books.”
Her ambitions back then were frequently dismissed as “ridiculous.” However, there was always one person who supported her — her mother, Margaret “Vanne” Morris-Goodall, who until she died in 2000 at the age of 94, tirelessly encouraged her daughter’s passion.
Goodall was not without her share of tragedies either. Her second spouse, Tanzanian parliament member Derek Bryceson, passed away due to cancer in 1980 when he was 57 years old. However, she didn’t allow these problems to bring her down and, as with the first time, she used her childhood dream to get back on the trail with the same unyielding character.
Passing Down a Message of Hope
Goodall frequently attributed the most influence to her mother’s support when referring to the time she needed to show her perseverance: “She said, ‘If you really want to do something like this, you are going to have to go through the hard walk. Seize every moment. And if you don’t give up, perhaps you’ll find a way,'”, Goodall reminisced. “This is the message I bring everywhere especially to the underprivileged. And I really miss Mom – perhaps she is there and listening.”
Her influence is now passed on to her grandchildren – Angel, Merlin, and Nick van Lawick, the offspring of her son Hugo “Grub” van Lawick, and daughter-in-law Maria.
“My grandmother never really pushed us to do things,” Angel said in an interview with The Press Democrat in 2014. “She just told us, ‘Never lose hope. If you genuinely wanted to accomplish something then just get on with it.'”