George Adamson 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 true story of Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lioness cub they had raised and later released into the wild. Several other films have been made based on Adamson's life. George Alexander Graham Adamson was born 3 February 1906 in Etawah, India to British parents.
Bartlett Adamson Bartlett Adamson George Ernest “Bartlett” Adamson (22 December 1884 – 4 November 1951) was an Australian journalist, poet, author and political activist. Adamson was born at Cascade, Ringarooma, Tasmania, on 22 December 1884 to a Scottish miner, George Adamson, and his English wife, Jane, nee Bartlett. He was educated at Zeehan and Dundas and then worked as a clerk at a mine. The family moved to New Zealand where he worked as a clerk with publishers Whitcomb and Tombs in Wellington. He was rejected for military service during World War I on medical grounds. He married Scottish-born Mary Anne McLachlan