Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. Born Free was printed in several languages and made into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same name. Joy Adamson (born Jan. 20, 1910, Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary [now Opava, Czech Republic]—died Jan. 3, 1980, Shaba National Reserve, Kenya) was an Austrian-born conservationist who pioneered the movement to preserve African wildlife. She is best known for authoring the best-selling book, Born Free (1960), which chronicled her experience of raising a captive lioness named Elsa and was made into an Oscar-winning film. She spent about 40 years in Kenya, much of the time in the Shaba game reserve.
Joy Adamson with Elsa : Conservationist Joy Adamson petting the lioness Elsa, whom she raised, April 1965. Following an education in Vienna, Joy-Friederike Victoria Gessner relocated to Kenya (1939), where she married botanist Peter Bally. Later she married George Adamson (1944), a British game warden who had worked in Kenya as a gold prospector, goat trader, and safari hunter from 1924. She won international renown with her African wildlife books, especially the trilogy describing how the couple raised a female lion cub, Elsa, and returned it to its natural habitat: Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (1960), Living Free: The Story of Elsa and Her Cubs (1961), and Forever Free: Elsa’s Pride (1962). All three were bestsellers that were later condensed into one volume as The Story of Elsa (1966). A film version of Born Free (1966), starring Virginia McKenna as Adamson, won two Academy Awards for its sweeping musical score and title song. A less successful sequel, titled Living Free, based on the final book of the trilogy, was released in 1972. Elsa was not the only big cat raised by Adamson—she also adopted a cheetah named Pippa and a leopard named Penny. Their stories were documented in the books The Spotted Sphinx (1969), Pippa’s Challenge (1972), and Queen of Shaba: The Story of an African Leopard (1980). Her other books included The Peoples of Kenya (1967), Joy Adamson’s Africa (1972), and The Searching Spirit: An Autobiography (1978). Adamson founded the Elsa Wild Animal Appeal (later renamed the Elsa Conservation Trust), an international group that financed conservation and education projects, in 1961.
You can read this beautiful article in a book “Shabdancha Dhan”(शब्दांचं धन) written by Shri. Maruti Chitampalli Sir.
The following are some of Chitampalli Sir’s works:
Ratawa (रातवा)
Ranvata (रानवाटा)
Nilawanti (निळावंती)
Pranikosh (प्राणीकोश)
Pakshikosh (पक्षीकोश)
Suwarna Garud (सुवर्ण गरुड)
Nisargawachan ( निसर्गवाचन)
Shabdanche Dhan (शब्दांचे धन)
Jangalache Dene (जंगलाचं देणं)
Mrugpakshishastra (मृगपक्षीशास्त्र)
Kesharacha Paus (केशराचा पाऊस)
Gharatya Palikade (घरट्या पलिकडे)
Anandadayi Bagale (आनंददायी बगळे)
Pakshi Jaya Digantara (पक्षी जाय दिगंतरा)
Chitragriwa: Eka Kabutarachi Katha (चित्रग्रीव : एका कबुतराची कथा)
Navegavbandhache diwas: (नवेगाव बांधचे दिवस)
Chaitrapalawi: 2004
Chakva Chandan : Ek Vanopanishad (चकवा चांदण : एक वनोपनिषद) (Autobiography)
An Introduction to Mrugpakshishastra of Hansadev (in English)
Books Available at :
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https://www.amazon.in/-/hi/s?i=stripbooks&rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AMaruti+Chitampalli&language=hi&qid=1650170759&ref=sr_pg_1
https://www.bookganga.com/eBooks/Books?AID=4769636905569747717
https://amzn.in/d/578uUzB (Born Free)
My Sincere thanks to,
BGM Flute : Mr. Ainuddin Warsi Sir
Photography : Saurabh J.,Kompalwar Sir