Lawrence Anthony

Lawrence Anthony

Lawrence Anthony was born on September 17th, 1950. Lawrence passed away March 2nd, 2012 at 61 years old. Lawrence Anthony was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lawrence Anthony was a South African conservationist best known for his work in war zones trying to save endangered animals. He was born to a father who worked in insurance and became one of the biggest names in the industry. Given his father’s job, the family moved around a lot and they lived in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe before settling in South Africa.

During his childhood, Lawrence had a huge love of the natural environment and was devastated by the deaths of thousands of animals from Allied Bombings during World War II that targeted Berlin. He also loved running around with his German Shepherd in the African bush and often called himself a bush child.

As an adult, he initially tried his hand at insurance just like his father before he got into real estate. It was during this time that he met and interacted with the Zulu tribespeople during the mid-90s. It was from these interactions that he got into the journey of conservation, as he worked with the tribesmen on initiatives to preserve the bushlands of Africa.

His first major achievement was when he acquired the Thula Thula Game Reserve, which hoped to make it into a place for the protection and conservation of animals. Together with his wife, they would transform the reserve into a unique safari lodge that also doubled as their home.

Lawrence Anthony is also known for his selfless fight to rescue the endangered Northern White Rhino at the Bhaghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Given his efforts, he was called the Indiana Jones of Conservation.

He is married to Francoise Malby, a French woman with whom he has two kids from a former marriage.

In 2012, Lawrence Anthony published his most popular work The Last Rhinos. Upon learning that the Northern Rhino was about to go extinct due to a thriving black market in the Far East, he decides to take action. But the rhinos are in a dangerous area of the DRC controlled by the Lord’s Resistance Army, a vicious rebel group. Despite unwieldy government bureaucracy and danger, he heads into the jungle to try to help save the rhinos.

The Elephant Whisperer is a work that Lawrence Anthony published in 2009. When he is asked to take in a rogue herd of elephants he accepts even though commonsense would be to refuse. Since he is the herd’s last chance to survive, he takes them in and despite chaos breaking out and the elephants getting traumatized soon after arrival, he forms a deep bond with the animals and learns a lot about freedom, loyalty, and love from them.

Babylon’s Ark was Lawrence Anthony’s debut work. Set in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, all Lawrence could think of was the fate of dozens of animals at the Baghdad Zoo who could be caught in the fighting. Working with empathetic American soldiers and a few zoo staff, he defends the zoo and somehow finds food and supplies for the animals.

Related Authors

Fans of Lawrence Anthony also enjoy these authors:

1. Amor Towles, author of: A Gentleman in Moscow.
2. Fredrik Backman, author of: A Man Called Ove.
3. Dan Brown, author of the Robert Langdon Series.
4. Jacqueline Winspear, author of the Maisie Dobbs Series.
5. Ken Follett, author of the Kingsbridge Series.

Lawrence Anthony: F.A.Q