Prince Albert II moved by death of Jane Goodall at 91
British researcher Jane Goodall died aged 91 on Wednesday 1 October © Michaël Alesi / Prince's Palace
Prince Albert II expressed his deep sadness at the death of the renowned primatologist, who he met with just last week in New York.
Jane Goodall died of natural causes in California, on Wednesday 1st October, aged 91. The British scientist was in the United States on a lecture tour when she passed away. Prince Albert II reacted with emotion. Just the previous week, during his stay in New York for the UN General Assembly, the Sovereign had the privilege of talking to the woman he considered to be an environmental visionary.
A special relationship with Monaco
Jane Goodall received the Biodiversity Prize at the very first Prince Albert II Foundation Awards, in 2008. The inaugural award was of particular significance: she was one of the first three recipients of an award from the Foundation, two years after its creation. At the time, the Prince said: “I wanted to create these Awards to give my full support to the exceptional men and women who are committed to saving our planet.”
A visionary pioneer
Without a formal university education, Jane Goodall arrived in Tanzania in 1960 aged just 26 to observe chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Her discoveries on the use of tools by primates, and their social behaviour, revolutionised primatology. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 and the Roots & Shoots youth programme, which today comprises thousands of groups in over a hundred countries. Appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2002, she was made a Dame in 2004, and received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom this year.