World-renowned paleoanthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey died in his home in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 2, 2022. He was an advocate for the advancement and acceptance of human evolution, especially as it related directly to Africa.
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey was born on December 19, 1944, in Nairobi to Louis and Mary Leakey. He spent his childhood in Kenya with his parents and two brothers. This is where he learned the skills he would use in his career, albeit not initially because his parents were also paleontologists and he chose to work as a safari guide before he turned to fossil research.
Leakey originally made his mark in the anthropology community in the late 1960s and 1970s with archeological expeditions that discovered Paranthropus boisei, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus skulls. He also discovered Turkana Boy in 1984. These discoveries bolstered him in the academic sphere, which allowed him to shift the focus to wildlife conservation, specifically in his home country of Kenya.
He was the director of the National Museum of Kenya, founded the NGO WildlifeDirect, and was the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
In addition to his academic and conservation work, Leakey was a humanist who supported rationalist associations—such as the Council for Secular Humanism and the American Humanist Association—and advocated for teaching evolution in public schools. “I’d say I’m a rationalist and a humanist, in terms of having principles and a philosophy of life that doesn’t require any point whatsoever for a supernatural entity that ultimately controls the outcome of my life or anybody else’s,” Leakey said in a 2012 interview with The Humanist magazine.
Leakey was one of the signers of the Council for Secular Humanism Humanist Manifesto 2000. Of this act, he said:
To me it’s a recognition of people who don’t believe in a deity, but who believe we must manage our affairs based on what we are as a species and our position on this planet. As I said earlier, atheism tends to have a somewhat pejorative connotation in discussion. If you don’t believe in a god then you must be barbaric, you must have no morals, and so on.
I think we humanists are perfectly aware of the need to not stab somebody who irritates us, to not run someone over because they’re in the middle of the road, and to not tell lies so we can benefit ourselves. I believe in honesty, integrity, compassion, love, and care of others in the world. It is a rationalist approach to life that isn’t dictated by a super power or super being, or a deity or a mystic. It is dictated by our common sense, and to label that as humanism has helped a lot of people.
If you say you’re a humanist you don’t immediately raise the hairs on the back of the neck of the zealots in religion. I don’t think it’s a cop-out. Even so, I don’t go around saying “I’m a humanist, here I am.” I don’t think I need to, but if asked to choose a label I’d say humanist and rationalist.
Leakey was awarded the Isaac Asimov Science Award from the American Humanist Association in June 2013. He was also a member of the International Academy of Humanism.
The Council for Secular Humanism and Free Inquiry send our sincerest condolences to his wife, Maeve Epps, and three daughters, Anna, Louise, and Samira. Leakey’s dedication to ensuring human evolution was not only proven but equally disseminated around the world was unparalleled. We are thankful for his contributions and longtime support.