Joy Adamson

Joy Adamson
Adamson with Elsa the lioness, autumn 1960
Born
Friederike Victoria Gessner

(1910-01-20)20 January 1910
Troppau, Austrian Silesia, Austria-Hungary (now Opava, Czech Republic)
Died3 January 1980(1980-01-03) (aged 69)
Cause of deathHomicide
Resting placeMeru National Park
Occupations
  • Naturalist
  • Artist
  • Author
Spouses
Sir Viktor Von Klarwill
(m. 1935; div. 1937)
(m. 1938; div. 1944)
(m. 1944; sep. 1970)
Valencio Fawcett
(m. 1979⁠–⁠1980)
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
Period1960–1980
GenreNonfiction
SubjectsAnimals, African culture, nature
Years active1960–1980
Notable workBorn Free

Literature portal

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.