ALI Surname Meaning, Origin and Family History

ALI Surname Meaning, Origin and Family History The Ali surname derived from the Arabic root Ê•-l-w, which literally means high, elevated, or exalted. The Ali surname is especially common in Arab countries and the rest of the Muslim world. Surname Origin:  Arabic Famous People with the ALI  Surname Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay)  - American athlete, boxer and philanthropistLaila Ali  -  athlete, boxer and television personality; daughter of Muhammad AliTatyana Ali - American actress, model and RB singerImtiaz Ali  Ã‚  -  Indian film director and writer Where Is the ALI Surname Most Common? According to surname distribution from  Forebears, Ali is the 38th most common surname in the world- found most prevalently in India where over 1.1 million people bear the name. The Ali surname is among the ten most common last names in Bahrain (1st), the Maldives (2nd), Trinidad and Tobago (2nd), Sudan (3rd), Tanzania (7th), Algeria (7th), Chad (8th), Fiji (9th) and India (9th). Surname maps from  WorldNames PublicProfiler  also show the Ali surname as especially common in India, but does not include data from most Arab countries. Other regions where the Ali surname is fairly common include Kosovo and several regions of England (South East, West Midlands, North West, and Yorkshire and Humberside. Genealogy Resources for the Surname ALI Ali Family Genealogy Forum: This free message board is focused on descendants of Ali  ancestors around the world. Search or browse the archives for your Ali ancestors, or join the group and post your own Ali family query.FamilySearch - ALI  Genealogy: Explore over 1  million results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Ali surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.GeneaNet - Ali  Records: GeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Ali  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. Resources and Further Reading Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Dian Fossey, Primatologist - Profile and Biography

Dian Fossey, Primatologist - Profile and Biography Dian Fossey Facts: Known for: study of mountain gorillas, work to preserve habitat for gorillasOccupation: primatologist, scientistDates: January 16, 1932 - December 26?, 1985 Dian Fossey Biography: Dian Fosseys father, George Fossey, left the family when Dian was only three.   Her mother, Kitty Kidd, remarried, but Dians stepfather, Richard Price, discouraged Dians plans.  An uncle paid for her education.   Dian Fossey studied as a preveterinary student in her undergraduate work before transferring to an occupational therapy program. She spent seven years as director of occupational therapy in a Louisville, Kentucky hospital, taking care of children with disabilities. Dian Fossey developed an interest in mountain gorillas, and wanted to see them in their natural habitat. Her first visit to the mountain gorillas came when she went in 1963 on a seven-week safari. She met with Mary and Louis Leakey before traveling to Zaire. She returned to Kentucky and her job. Three years later, Louis Leakey visited Dian Fossey in Kentucky to urge her to follow through on her desire to study the gorillas. He told her she later found it it was to test her commitment to have her appendix removed prior to moving to Africa to spend an extended time studying the gorillas. After raising funds, including support from the Leakeys, Dian Fossey returned to Africa, visited Jane Goodall to learn from her, and then made her way to Zaire and the home of the mountain gorillas. Dian Fossey earned the trust of the gorillas, but human beings were another matter. She was taken into custody in Zaire, escaped to Uganda, and moved to Rwanda to continue her work. She created the Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda in a high mountain range, the Virunga Volcano mountains, though the thin air challenged her asthma.   She hired Africans to help with her work, but lived alone. By techniques she developed, especially imitation of the gorilla behavior, she was again accepted as an observer by a group of mountain gorillas there. Fossey discovered and publicized their peaceful nature and their nurturing family relationships. Contrary to standard scientific practice of the time, she even named the individuals. From 1970-1974, Fossey went to England to get her doctorate at Cambridge University, in zoology, as a way of lending more legitimacy to her work. Her dissertation summarized her work thus far with the gorillas. Returning to Africa, Fossey began taking in research volunteers who extended the work shed been doing. She began to focus more on conservation programs, recognizing that between habitat loss and poaching, the gorilla population had been cut in half in the area in only 20 years. When one of her favorite gorillas, Digit, was killed, she began a very public campaign against poachers who killed gorillas, offering rewards and alienating some of her supporters.   American officials, including the Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, persuaded Fossey to leave Africa.   Back in America in 1980, she received medical attention for conditions that had been aggravated by her isolation and poor nutrition and care. Fossey taught at Cornell University. In 1983 she published Gorillas in the Mist, a popularized version of her studies. Saying she preferred gorillas to people, she returned to Africa and to her gorilla research, as well as to her anti-poaching activity. On December 26, 1985, her body was discovered near the research center. Presumably, Dian Fossey had been killed by the poachers shed fought, or their political allies, though Rwandan officials blamed her assistant.   Her murder has never been solved. She was buried in the gorilla cemetery at her Rwandan research station. On her gravestone: No one loved gorillas more... She joins other famous women environmentalists, ecofeminists, and scientists like Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, and Wangari Maathai. Bibliography Gorillas in the Mist: Dian Fossey. 1988. Dian Fossey: Befriending the Gorillas. Suzanne Freedman, 1997. Woman in the Mists: The Story of Dian Fossey the Mountain Gorillas of Africa. Farley Mowat, 1988. Light Shining Through the Mist: A Photobiography of Dian Fossey: Tom L. Matthews. 1998. Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas. Sy Montgomery, 1992.   Murders in the Mist: Who Killed Dian Fossey?  Ã‚  Nicholas Gordon, 1993. The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey. Harold Hayes, 1990. African Madness. Alex Shoumatoff, 1988. Family Father: George Fossey, insurance salesMother: Kitty Kidd, modelStepfather: Richard Price Education University of California at DavisSan Jose State College