Joy Adamson Joy Adamson Friederike Victoria "Joy" Adamson (née Gessner, 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) 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. In 1977, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. Adamson was born to Victor and Traute Gessner in Troppau, Silesia, Austria-Hungary (now Opava, Czech Republic), the second of three daughters. Her parents divorced when she was 10, and she went to live with
George Adamson tourist in the Kora National Park. He was 83 years old. He is buried in the Kora National Park near his brother Terance. Two lions are buried next to Adamson as well: Super Cub, and Mugie, a lion released in Kora after George's death. George Adamson George Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the "Baba ya Simba" ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a British wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, are best known through the movie "Born Free" and best-selling book with the same title, which is based on the