Leakey Family

Three generations of the Leakey Family devote(d) themselves to the study of the origins of humans. They are Louis, Mary, Richard, Meave and Louise Leakey.

World Heritage Sites connected to 'Leakey Family':

  • Kondoa The Leakey family, with the financial support of Norwegian Aid, organised the construction of a small rock art visitor centre at Kolo in the 1970s. Mary Leakey was the main specialist there
  • Lake Turkana Lake Turkana Koobi Fora research involved Richard and is now headed by Meave and Louise Leakey.
  • Lower Valley of the Omo Richard Leakey was invited by Haile Selassie to search for fossils there (1967).
  • Mount Kenya Gray Leakey, a cousin of Louis Leakey, was taken captive and led into the forests of Mount Kenya, high up on the mountain, where "he was buried alive and upside down in deep red soil" (during the Mau Mau insurgency 1952-1960); link
  • Ngorongoro Olduvai in the Ngorongoro conservation area was also famously "discovered" by Mary and Richard.