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Gerald ('Gerry') Malcolm Durrell OBE (Jamshedpur, 7 gennaio 1925 – Jersey, 30 gennaio 1995) è stato uno zoologo, esploratore e scrittore britannico.
Fratello di Lawrence Durrell, affidò le memorie delle sue esperienze naturalistiche ad alcuni libri di carattere autobiografico nei quali unì, nella narrazione, lo spirito di osservazione dello scienziato alle doti dell'umorista, per descrivere con arguzia affettuosa animali ed esseri umani, sottolineando gli aspetti negativi dell'umanità.
Tra le sue opere ricordiamo La mia famiglia e gli altri animali (My family and others animals, 1956), Incontri con animali (Encounters with animals, 1958), Luoghi sotto spirito (Fillets of plaice, 1972), L'uccello beffardo (The mockery bird, 1981), Il naturalismo dilettante (1982), Durrell in Russia (1986), in collaborazione con la moglie, e Gli aye-aye e io (The Aye-Aye and I, 1990), resoconto di un viaggio in Madagascar.
Visse lunga parte della sua vita nell'isola di Jersey, dove creò un zoo-laboratorio per la protezione delle specie in via di estinzione.
Gerald Durrell was born in India on January 7, 1925. He was the son of Lawrence Samuel and Louisa Florence (Dixie) Durrell. When his father died while Gerald was still a baby, his mother was left to raise four children on her own. The books "My Family and Other Animals", "Birds, Beasts and Relatives" and "The Gardens of the Gods" are reminiscences about growing up in his highly eccentric and talented family. His brother Lawrence became the acclaimed writer. His sister Margot became a dress designer and interior decorator. His brother Leslie became a painter. Every child in the family was allowed to develope his or her own talents in a highly nurturing environment, albeit a trifle unconventional to the outside eye. When the family moved back to England because of WWII, Gerald took a job in a local pet shop and spent most of his free time at the London Zoo to be near the animals that he loved.
When the war ended, he managed to become a student at the Whipsnade Zoological Society Park in Bedfordshire. There he learned about the endangerment of rare species and their potential for extinction. His book, "Beasts in my Belfry" describes his experiences at Whipsnade. Starting in l947 he made the first of a series of animal collecting trips, to the British Cameroons, to find species marked for disappearance. Then in l949 he went to the Bafut area and in l950, to British Guiana. These three trips essentially broke the bank for him and used up all of his small inheritance that he had received on his 21st birthday.
Since he had developed better and different ways to cage and transport animals back to zoos without causing undue stress in his captives, he used his money up quickly. When he was considering how to finance further expeditions, his brother Lawrence suggested that he write a book about his experiences to help raise the funds he needed. Thus, Gerald Durrell wrote "The Overloaded Ark", follwed by "The Bafut Beagles" and "Thress Singles to Adventure" each of which became sucessful enough for Gerald Durrell to continue his vocation.
(Note: Some titles of Mr. Durrell's books are given differently in the U.S. and in the U.K., such as "Beasts in my Belfry" becomes "A Bevy of Beasts" and "Three Singles to Adventure", "Three Tickets to Adventure".) |
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