A Brief Biography of Gerald Darrell

Biography of Gerald Darrell (1925-1995) - a zoologist, naturalist, writer - was filled with various travels to the separated and most remote corners of the globe.

Childhood and youth

Jerry was the fourth and youngest child of an English civil engineer who worked in India. When the father died, and Jerry was three years old, the whole family, led by the delicate mother Louise Florence Darrell, returned home. They lived in the resort town of Bournemouth, one hundred kilometers from London. Compared with hot India, it was, of course, uncomfortable: even in the summer it was raining and cold. At the insistence of the oldest brother Lawrence (Larry) in 1935 the whole family moved to Greece on the island of Corfu, which is now called Corfu.

On the Greek island

Life on it, like paradise, will fly by as one moment. Gerald Darrell's biography will be filled with friendly fellowship with Greek peasants, Dr. Theodor Stephanidis (1896-1983), extraordinary teachers of the French language and daily walks together with the beloved and faithful dog Roger. So looked ten years old Jerry. English to ten years, Jerry did not prevail. While keeping a diary, he managed to make at least two mistakes in every word. The only thing he has never been wrong about is the spelling of the names of animals and insects. This was discovered by Larry, who by this time had become a professional writer and had written three novels on Corfu. They were published in the same years. The house of Darrell was cheerful and noisy. In it, on the slightest occasion, and often even without it, picnics and parties were arranged. This wonderful life Darrell will describe in the book "My family and animals." And BBC will remove a charming multi-part film that will convey the atmosphere of the book and their lives. In the photo above is a frame from this movie.

War and the first years after it

Biography of Gerald Darrell, like everyone else, will be broken by the Second World War. From a wonderful island had to leave. Before you is a shot from the movie, which perfectly shows how the Durrell family looked then. At the age of 14, immediately after returning to Britain, the teenager went to work in the store. Of course, the zoological, which was called the "Aquarium". When the war ended, Jerry began working at the zoo. He did not have a higher education, and the post was therefore the most modest. But he learned to handle a variety of animals and began to compile lists of rare endangered species of animals. He was the first to sound the alarm about them, although for the time being just for himself.

The first expeditions

Having received the inheritance in 1947, the young man leaves for Africa. Biography of Gerald Darrell is enriched by experience and meetings in Cameroon and Guyana. But he's a bad financier. All money is spent, and it turns out to be without a penny in your pocket. On the advice of his older brother, he sits at a typewriter. It does not please him, since he is not friendly with grammar and syntax. But the first story "Hunting for a hairy frog," which Gerald gave on the BBC radio, was a success. He was even invited to the studio. Further more. Darrell continues to write, because only by literary works he can earn money for a new journey.

Gerald Darrell: biography, personal life

The life of Gerald Durrell is gaining new experience. In 1951, he married Jackie (Jacqueline) Walffenden. Since there is no money for a candidate for a husband, the father of the bride categorically objects to this marriage. The girl has to flee the house and against the will of the parents to marry a loved one. They will be free to live in a boarding house, which is kept by the sister of Jerry Margaret. Their marriage will last until 1979. In these years, many books will be written and many expeditions organized. Darrell will dedicate his book "Under the canopy of the forest" to his faithful friend. However, everyday difficulties, Gerald's enthusiasm for work and alcohol alone, will lead them to divorce after 28 years of living together.

In 1977, Gerald Darrell, whose biography was always unpredictable, meets a young woman in the University of Carolina who studies the behavior of lemurs with enthusiasm. She was then 28 years old, Darrell was 52. He was stunned - a beautiful woman is fond of zoology. Darrell first just became interested in Lee. And then I got carried away and offered to marry him. Lee McGeorge Wilson also did not immediately have any special feelings for the not-so-young zoologist. But after his departure to India, they began to correspond, interest grew into friendship and love. Now they are united, Lee and the biography of Gerald Darrell. The photo shows the beginning of their life together. The wife accompanied her restless husband in the last three expeditions. In 1982 - on the island of Mauritius, in 1986 - in Russia and in 1990 - in Madagascar. So they remained a loving couple until the last days of Darrell.

Life and work

But let's continue with the restless zoologist and writer. Gerald Darrell, whose brief biography shows it, never stayed long in one place. In 1954, he was already in Paraguay, but because of the coup in the country, the collected collection of animals could not be transported to the zoo. In 1955, Darrell came to his brother Lawrence in Corfu, and the most popular book about childhood was published, which was published in millions of copies around the world. It has already been said that in England a film was shot on it. Here is another frame from it, showing a traveling zoo. In 1959, Darrell created a zoo on the island of Jersey, in which rare animals have been guarded since 1963. He wanted them to breed in captivity and then be sent back to their natural habitat. If it were not for the activities of Darrell, many rare species would forever disappear. In 1985, Darrell comes to the USSR and shoots a multi-part film. In total, for his life, the zoologist made thirty-five films and wrote more than thirty books.

In 1995, three weeks after he turned 70, Gerald Darrell died. Li's wife continued his business, worked at the zoo, wrote books about animals.

Gerald Darrell: biography for children

It will be a story about the activities of an enthusiastic person, who spoke his first word in India, because he was born there, and it was not "Mom", but "Zoo." From the age of two he was already clear: he would become a naturalist-zoologist. And by the time he spent four years in Greece, when he spent four years in Greece, he wandered through the olive groves and vineyards of the island of Corfu and watched, for example, the turtles, or carefully watched the life of geckos, collected to the horror of the elder brother in matchboxes of scorpions, he Already knew exactly his path in life. He took home some animals from every walk on the island. So, he could run into the bath innocuous, but huge snakes, which all the home took for the terrible snakes. One mother fully understood his passion for animals. The older brothers and sister still feared his beasts, insects and birds. In Britain, in his homeland, about his childhood spent on Corfu, a funny and fascinating film based on Darrell's book "My Family and Beasts" was shot. He did not receive a systematic education and even wrote with errors, but nevertheless Darrell studied all his life. He was an enthusiastic and gifted man. He created a zoo in which he bred rare animals. I took about forty films about them in the wild and in national reserves around the world, wrote more than thirty books about my travels around the world. Darrell came to our country and made a film consisting of 13 series, and wrote the book "Darrell in Russia". He founded the Wildlife Protection Fund. All his activity was filled with love for people and animals, which must be protected and protected.