Gerald Durrell

Gerald Durrell was the fifth and final child of the Durrell family (an older sister died in infancy). His father was an engineer in India, and both his parents were born there. The family moved to London not long before Gerald Durrell's father died. After his death, Mrs. Durrell moved Gerald, his sister Margo, and brother Leslie to the Greek island of Corfu to join her eldest son, Lawrence (Larry in the novel), who already lived there with his wife. Though My Family and Other Animals is semi-autobiographical and many of the characters were real people, it does leave out important facts (such as Larry's marriage and the fact that Theodore Stephanides was also married with a daughter, whom the families hoped would actually marry Gerald). The Durrell family left Corfu as World War Two began, and in 1943, Durrell served the war effort by working on a farm. In 1947, he began conducting wildlife collecting expeditions. His collection practices differed significantly from common practices of the time: he never over-collected and didn't cater to animal collectors. After marrying Jacquie Sonia Wolfenden in 1951, both began writing books to fund Durrell's expeditions and his conservation efforts. In the mid-fifties, as Durrell became increasingly disenchanted with the way zoos were run, he began planning to open his own zoo and finally did in 1959 in Jersey. The zoo became a leading force in captive breeding of endangered species. Durrell and Wolfenden divorced in 1979 and soon after, Durrell married his second wife, Lee McGeorge Durrell. They launched several conservation groups over the next decade, the most famous of which is now known as the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Durrell died in 1995 after his health began deteriorating after a trip to Madagascar.