Michael Grzimek (12 April 1934 – 10 January 1959) was a
West German zoologist,
conservationist and filmmaker.
Life
Michael Grzimek was the second son of
Bernhard Grzimek
Bernhard Klemens Maria Grzimek (; 24 April 1909 – 13 March 1987) was a German zoo director, zoologist, book author, editor, and animal conservationist in postwar West Germany.
Biography
Early years and education
Grzimek was born in Neisse (N ...
and Hildegard Prüfer. Already as a child, he assisted his father in his research of
wolves and
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. ...
s. He spent the last years of the
Second World War with his mother and his older brother Rochus on an old farm in
Allgäu
The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the Alp ...
, which his father had bought in the 1930s.
At 16, he accompanied his father on an expedition to
Ivory Coast. The success that followed his father's book ' (No room for wild animals), which describes their 1954
Congo expedition, made Michael persuade his father to make a colour film based on it. Although they had to borrow over 10 000
German marks, to make it and they thought it would be unsuccessful,
as the film portrayed animals as peaceful (at that time an unusual thing
), the film unexpectedly won two
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin.
History
The win ...
s (one as viewers' favourite film and the other from the International panel of academics) at the 1956
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...
and was sold to 63 countries (including the
Eastern bloc,
China and
Japan) and grossed a lot of money worldwide. It also won another award, the . The Grzimeks' offered their profits to extend the Serengeti. Peter Molley, the director of the Tanganyikan national parks, suggested that the money would be better spent making a new survey of the number of wild animals and their
migration routes so that the borders of the
Serengeti
The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serenget ...
could be better established.
During these vast explorations (which also served Michael as a preparation for a university degree), these routes were mapped precisely for the first time, and the number of the animals in their herds could be counted. It was 367 000, one third of the expected number. Both Grzimeks had to get a
pilot license
Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are regulated by ICAO Annex 1 and issued by the civil aviation authority of each country. CAA’s have to establish that the holder has met a specif ...
and buy a plane, a
Dornier Do 27. To make it look natural to the animals, they painted it with a
zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. z ...
stripes pattern. The code of the plane was ''D-ENTE''. ("D" stood for Germany, "E" for single engine light aircraft; they could choose the other three letters, and, as they wanted an animal name, they chose "",
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
for "duck". Bernhard Grzimek joked that they could also have used "", German for "donkey", if they had thought of it then.
)
Personal life
Michael Grzimek married Erika Schoof (b. 31 July 1932 - d. 9 February 2020) on 26 May 1955. They had two sons, Stephan Michael (b. 1956), and Christian Bernhard (b. 1959, after Michael's death). In 1978, Michael's father Bernhard married Erika and adopted the two children. Erika Schoof – and along with Christian Grzimek since 1980 – became the head of the ''Okapia KG Michael Grzimek & Co '' which is an archive of photos and files.
Death
On 10 January 1959, the plane piloted by Michael collided with a
vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
and he lost control. He was killed in the crash. He was buried the same day on the top of the
Ngorongoro Crater. Later the government of Tanzania erected a stone pyramid over his grave. Bernhard Grzimek was buried there after his death in 1987.
Legacy
Michael's survey, basically finished by the time he died, were the reason for the enlargement of the Serengeti National Park. Bernhard Grzimek finished their second film, ' (Serengeti shall not die), which brought attention to the conservation problems in the area and also wrote an eponymous book. The film was very successful - among other, it won the 1959 '
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
'; it was the first German film to win this prize; and so was the book, which was translated into 23 languages and sold millions of copies.
Three schools, one in
Frankfurt, one in
Berlin and one in
Nairobi, are named after Michael Grzimek. The main building of the Serengeti Research Institute is named Michael Grzimek's Memorial Laboratory.
His tomb bears this inscription:
::HE GAVE ALL HE POSSESSED
::INCLUDING HIS LIFE
::FOR THE WILD ANIMALS OF AFRICA
The same inscription is on a nine-ton steel statue which was erected to Michael's memory in
Cincinnati,
Ohio in 1969.
Works
Films
* ', 1956
* ' (prepared for the screen by Bernhard Grzimek), 1959
Books
* ' (prepared for publication by Bernhard Grzimek), 1959
Literature
* Gerhard Grzimek, Rupprecht Grzimek: "Die Familie Grzimek aus Oberglogau in Oberschlesien", in: ''Deutsches Familienarchiv'', Band X, Verlag Degener & Co., Neustadt (Aisch) 1958. 4., erweiterte und überarbeitete Ausgabe, Herder-Institut, Reutlingen 2000.
See also
*
Bernhard Grzimek
Bernhard Klemens Maria Grzimek (; 24 April 1909 – 13 March 1987) was a German zoo director, zoologist, book author, editor, and animal conservationist in postwar West Germany.
Biography
Early years and education
Grzimek was born in Neisse (N ...
External links (in German) and references
Short biographyin EnglishOkapia KG Michael Grzimek & Co
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grzimek, Michael
1934 births
1959 deaths
Film directors from Berlin
German conservationists
German documentary filmmakers
20th-century German zoologists
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Tanzania