圖1. Richard Leakey (理查德·利基)在慶祝77歲生日，幾天後去世。他是一名好鬥之士，其諸多成就既多樣且非凡。 (圖援用自原文)
Born on 19 December 1944 in Kenya's capital Nairobi, he was a world-famous fossil expert, author and conservationist, as well as being an opposition MP, anti-corruption campaigner, economic reformer, and head of the country's civil service.
1944年12月19日，出生於肯亞首都奈洛比。除了是一名反對黨議員、反腐敗活動者、經濟改革者及國家行政機關的首長之外，他也是世界著名的化石專家、作家及天然資源保護主義者。
He was beaten up, threatened and badly injured in a plane crash which saw him lose both his legs.
在一次飛機失事中，他遭受到撞擊、驚懗及嚴重受傷。這使他經受了喪失雙腿。
"I think pressure probably suits me," Leakey once said with urbane understatement.
His first job was studying fossils. His parents, Louis and Mary, were famous archaeologists and palaeontologists who spent decades exploring Kenya's Rift Valley, searching for the origins of mankind.
Leakey曾經以文雅、輕描淡寫地宣稱：「我認為，壓力可能適合我。」他的第一份工作是研究化石。雙親(Louis及Mary)是花了數十年時間，探索肯亞大裂谷(也就是，東非大裂谷的一部分)，以尋找人類起源的著名考古學家及古生物學家。
In his 20s, Leakey almost eclipsed his parents' work, making his own important finds and writing books.
在他20來歲時，Leakey幾乎使其雙親的工作黯然失色。他發表了自己的重要發現，且寫了幾本書。
In the late 1980s, Leakey switched careers to take over as head of Kenya's Wildlife Service (KWS) at a time when the organization was close to collapse and poachers were busy wiping out the country's entire elephant and rhino populations.
於1980年代後期，在肯亞野生動物管理局(KWS)瀕臨崩潰、偷獵者忙於消滅該國所有大象及犀牛種群時，Leakey轉換生涯，接手擔任該組織的負責人。
Energetic, ruthless and seemingly incorruptible, Leakey told his rangers to shoot poachers on sight and organized the public burning of a huge cache of ivory as a publicity stunt to draw global attention to the threat faced by elephants.
精力充沛、無情及看來清廉的Leakey，告訴其森林警衛隊員，看到偷獵者時就開槍，且安排了公開焚燒大量象牙，作為引起全球對大象面臨威脅之關注的一種宣傳噱頭。
"People were genuinely shocked that ivory was causing elephants to become extinct," he told the BBC's Vivienne Nunis in an interview in September 2021. Leakey's methods were successful but his combative style earned him plenty of enemies. It was a pattern that would be repeated again and again.
在2021年9月的一次採訪中，他告訴英國廣播公司(BBC：British Broadcasting Corporation)記者Vivienne Nunis：「象牙導致了大象發生滅絕，人們真的感到震驚。」Leakey的方法是成功的。不過，他好鬥的風格，為他帶來了很多敵人。這是一種，會一再被重複的模式。
When, in 1993, the single-engine plane he was flying lost power and crashed, many speculated that it was sabotage. Both of his legs were amputated below the knee. In 1994 Leakey changed careers once again, quitting the KWS to enter the equally ruthless world of Kenyan politics and helping to form an opposition party called Safina to campaign for multi-party democracy.
於1993年，當他駕駛的單引擎飛機失去動力並墜毀時，許多人懷疑，這是蓄意破壞。他的雙腿，膝蓋以下被截肢。於1994年，Leakey再度改變生涯，離開KWS進入同樣無情的肯亞政治界，並協助建立一個名為Safina的反對黨，以發起多黨民主。
"Looking back at my careers, the political side of my life was most rewarding in terms of the country," he told the BBC. But it was far from being an easy ride. On one occasion he was whipped by hired thugs. President Moi described him as a racist, an atheist and a foreigner.
他告訴英國廣播公司：「回顧我的生涯，從國家方面來說，我生命的政治面是最有意義的。」不過，這絕非是條舒坦之路。有一次，他遭到雇來的暴徒鞭打。Moi總統形容他為，一名種族主義者、無神論者及外國人。
But in 1999 President Moi shocked the country by appointing Leakey as head of Kenya's civil service, and of a so-called dream team of reformers hired to rescue a country branded one of the world's most corrupt, from a deepening economic crisis.
不過，在1999年，Moi總統任命Leakey為肯亞國家行政機關，及一個被僱來拯救一個，被污衊為世界上最腐敗、正加深經濟危機之國家，所謂改革者夢想團隊的領導人，震驚了全國。
Supporters said Leakey had been recognized by the president as the only man tough enough and honest enough to pull Kenya out of its troubles, but questioned whether he would last long enough in the job to do any real good.
支持者們表示，Leakey一直被總統認為，是唯一夠堅強且正直，足以使肯亞擺脫困境的人。不過，質疑在此工作上，他能持續夠長的時間，來做任何真正的好事。
Critics said the appointment of a white man with no university education was an insult to Kenyans and one which had clearly been orchestrated by colonial mentalities still lurking in the IMF and World Bank.
批評者們表示，任命一名沒有受過大學教育的白人，是對肯亞人的一種侮辱，而且是種顯然一直由，仍然潛伏於國際貨幣基金組織(IMF：International Monetary Fund)及世界銀行中之殖民心態，特地安排的任命。
In his new job Leakey certainly helped to improve relations between Kenya and international lending institutions. His appointment may well have been crucial in persuading the IMF to resume lending the government money.
在他的新工作中，無疑地Leakey有助於改善肯亞與國際貸款機構之間的關係。他的任命很可能，在說服國際貨幣基金組織恢復對政府貸款上，一直至關重要。
For a while Leakey enjoyed unprecedented popularity as his dream team started a radical overhaul of the country's bloated, corrupt, nepotistic bureaucracy.
有一段時間，Leakey享受了前所未有的人望。因為，他的夢想團隊開始，對該國臃腫、腐敗、裙帶關係的官僚機構，進行了徹底改革。
But as usual, Leakey ran into trouble. Some complained again about his uncanny ability to make unnecessary enemies. Others said his anti-corruption drive was threatening the interests of too many powerful figures. Leakey stepped down in 2001 - without giving any public explanation.
不過，如往常般，Leakey遭遇了麻煩。一些人再次抱怨，有關其製造不必要敵人之不可思議的能力。其他人表示，其反腐敗運動威脅到太多有權勢人物的利益。Leakey於2001年下台，沒有發表任何公開解釋。
Leakey said he planned to retire from active political life. He wanted instead to grow grapes on his farm in the Rift Valley.
Leakey表示，他計劃退出活躍的政治生涯。不過，想在其位於大裂谷的農場，種植葡萄。
But in 2015, he returned to public life with current President Uhuru Kenyatta appointing him as chairman of the board of the KWS. He brokered a controversial deal that allowed a Chinese-funded railway line to be built through the Nairobi National Park.
不過於2015年，在獲得當時總統Uhuru Kenyatta，任命他為KWS董事會主席的情況下，重返了公眾生涯。他居間促成了一項，允許中國出資修建一條，穿越奈洛比國家公園之鐵路線的有爭議交易。
"We cannot say to the people of Kenya: 'Oh the railway can't come through Nairobi Park so you won't have a railway for five years'," he was quoted as saying at the time. More recently, his focus had moved to what he saw as the biggest environmental threat - climate change.
那時他被引述說：「我們無法對肯亞人民說： '哦，此鐵路不能穿過奈洛比公園，因此你們五年內不會有鐵路'」。更近一些，他的焦點已經轉向，他認為最大的環境威脅—氣候變遷。
"We've created a terrible mess," he said. He feared that Kenya's national parks would one day cease to exist because they "would have dried out or washed out". "Poaching, I think we can deal with. But habitat loss and human expansion to encroach on water systems and forests and pollute the air - no, I don't see anything being done in Africa," Leakey said.
他宣稱：「我們已經引起了一場可怕的混亂。」他擔心，有朝一日，肯亞國家公園會不復存在。因為，它們"將會乾枯或被沖毀"。Leakey宣稱：「我認為，我們能應付盜獵。不過，棲息地喪失及人類擴張，侵害了水系統、森林及污染空氣。沒有，於非洲我沒有看到，採取任何行動。」
He died with his dream of building a museum on the edges of Kenya's Rift Valley, to celebrate evolution and the common history from Africa that all humans share, unfulfilled.
他懷著在肯亞大裂谷邊緣，建造博物館以紀念，來自所有人共有之非洲的演變及共同歷史，但未實現的夢想去世了。
"I want to build a cathedral of life, with no God," he said. "We are one species, we came out of Lake Turkana three million years ago and we have to recognize we're all in the same house," he said.
他宣稱：「我想建造一座，沒有上帝的生命大教堂。我們是三百萬年前，出現於圖爾卡納湖的一個物種，我們必須認知到，我們全在同一屋簷中。」
Having lived in Kenya all his life, Leakey also called for greater investment in Africa to help create jobs, which he said would allow the continent to "leap ahead". "I'm full of confidence that we have the human resources, Africa has just got to be given a little bit of a lift."
一生都住在肯亞的Leakey，也呼籲於非洲的更大投資以協助創造，其表示能使該大陸得以"向前躍進"的工作機會。「我充滿信心，我們擁有人力資源，非洲僅須獲得些許的助力。」
網址：https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59833131
翻譯：許東榮
文章定位：
