Gerald Durrell

Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell in Askania Nova, 1985
Durrell in Askania Nova, 1985
Born
Gerald Malcolm Durrell

(1925-01-07)7 January 1925
Died30 January 1995(1995-01-30) (aged 70)
Saint Helier, Jersey
Known for
  • Naturalist
  • writer
  • founder of Jersey Zoo
  • television presenter
  • conservationist
Spouses
(m. 1951; div. 1979)
(m. 1979)
Parents
Relatives
Scientific career
Author abbrev. (zoology)Durrell

Gerald Malcolm Durrell, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1959. He wrote approximately forty books, mainly about his life as an animal collector and enthusiast, the most famous being My Family and Other Animals (1956). Those memoirs of his family's years living in Greece were adapted into two television series (My Family and Other Animals, 1987, and The Durrells, 2016–2019) and one television film (My Family and Other Animals, 2005). He was the youngest brother of novelist Lawrence Durrell.