Dian Fossey
aka Alicia S.

"Everything you look at and everything you see has beauty in its own special way." I once said after being asked, "Why did you devote your life to protecting and saving the mountain gorillas of Africa?"

Good Morning. My name is Dian Fossey. I was born January 16, 1932 in Fairfax, California, a suburb of San Francisco.

My childhood was very lonely and unhappy. My parents, Kitty and George Fossey divorced when I was three. My mom had told me my dad had died, but he had just disappeared. By the time I was five, my mom had already remarried to a man named Richard Price, a successful builder. Neither of my parents paid very much attention to me. In fact, my dad made me eat dinner with the housekeeper until I was ten! During my high school years, I spent most of my time riding, caring for, and talking to horses. When I was finally able to go to college, my stepdad convinced me to take business studies. I hated it! I hated those business studies and in two years I quit! I changed courses and took pre-veterinary classes at the University of California Davis. Even though I passed in zoology and biology, I failed in physics and chemistry. I switched courses again and in 1954 got a degree in occupational therapy from San Jose State.

One of my talents as a young girl that led me to becoming famous was my love for animals. As a child, I spent countless hours with animals from catching lizards to riding horses. My parents were worried about me not having any friends, so to get me to be more social, they only allowed me to have one goldfish, which I could not replace after it died. That only made me want to be around animals more. Also, a skill that helped me succeed in life was my determination. Many would have given up if they had to go through what I went through to follow my dreams.

After graduating from college, I went to work in Louisville, Kentucky at Kosair Children's Hospital. When one of my friends from the hospital went to Africa and showed me the pictures, I knew I just had to go there. I took out a loan, flew to Africa and hired Louis Leakey, a worldwide famous anthropologist, to show me around.

I was famous as an adult for my research and protection of the mountain gorillas. I spent months at a time in the Virunga Mountains studying and bonding with the gorillas. My research proved that gorillas are gentle creatures if they don't feel threatened. I also made some gorilla friends like Digit, Peanuts, and Geezer. Finally, I wrote articles for National Geographic and wrote a New York Times top-selling book called Gorillas in the Mist.

In 1977, I heard the worst news ever. Ten year old Digit had been killed by poachers, people who hunt and kill animals. I was devastated. All I could think of was to seek revenge on the poachers. I spent the final years of my life in Africa fighting against poachers.

I destroyed their traps and burned down their camps. I continued to study mountain gorillas and cared for any that were sick and injured. I also continued to write more articles for National Geographic.

Although I did not have a mentor or role model, there was someone that helped me start my career, which I am very thankful for. The man's name was Louis Leakey. He first showed me the mountain gorillas and also offered me a job to work with him. He later helped find funding for my gorilla research project.

On the morning of December 27, 1985, someone came out of my cabin yelling "Dian kufa!" which means Dian is dead! Someone had broken into my cabin during the night and murdered me with a panga knife. Since the panga knife was often used by poachers to kill gorillas, many people suspect that it was poachers that killed me.

My research and protection of mountain gorillas has paid off. While still endangered, the mountain gorillas did not become extinct and their numbers have risen slightly in the past few years.

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