Henrietta Wilfrida "Frida" Leakey (née Avern; 1902 – 19 August 1993), also known as H. Wilfrida Leakey, was a British teacher and archaeological illustrator who discovered a gorge that was named FLK or "Frida Leakey Korongo". The gorge was the site of ancient stone tools and important human fossil discoveries. Leakey was the first wife of paleoanthropologist and archaeologist

Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...

. She later became a leader in the

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

and a

County Councillor A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

in Cambridgeshire.

Life

She was born in 1902 and her father, Henry Averne, sold cork in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

in Surrey. She attended the Sorbonne before going on to

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

in Cambridge. She then went to Kent where she worked teaching French at

Benenden School Benenden School is a private boarding school for girls in Kent, England, in Hemsted Park at Benenden, between Cranbrook and Tenterden. Benenden has a boarding population of over 550 girls aged 11 to 18, as well as a limited number of day s ...

in Tunbridge Wells. She married paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey in 1928 and their first child was a daughter Priscilla Muthoni Leakey. Frida used an inheritance to purchase a large brick house in Girton, which the family named "The Close". She participated in digs in East Africa and learnt how to construct archaeological illustrations during fieldwork. It is her illustrations that are included in "''The Stone Age Cultures of Kenya Colony''" published by her husband in 1931. The book describes their excavations in 1926–7 and 1928–9. In 1931 she discovered a gorge off

Olduvai gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropology, paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evo ...

that was named "FLK" for "Frida Leakey Korongo". This gorge would be an outstanding source of human fossils. Her husband's behaviour was criticised by both

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

society and his family and friends when he left her just after the birth of their son

Colin Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), Thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

in December 1933. She had suffered with severe morning sickness throughout the pregnancy and had been unable to work on the illustrations for Louis's second book, ''Adam's Ancestors.'' Louis recruited Mary Nichol to work on the illustrations and their collaboration turned into an affair. In 1936, Frida divorced Louis for his infidelity and he quickly married Mary. Frida, her son, and her daughter went to live in Cambridge. Colin did not see his father again until he was 19. During the Second World War she organised billeting at

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

. She was elected chair of the

in Cambridgeshire and she was elected as an independent

county councillor A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

for Cambridgeshire.

Death and legacy

She died in 1993, leaving two children. The gorge that she had discovered, Frida Leakey Korongo (and was named for her) was found to be the location of ancient hominids (

homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...

) living 1.5 million years ago. They were using stone tools and their diet included the

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

. Excavations were still in progress in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leakey, Frida 1902 births 1993 deaths British educators 20th-century British explorers Women councillors in England Councillors in Cambridgeshire British women archaeologists 20th-century British women educators