David Attenborough

UK naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough was born in 1926. The middle son of a family of five siblings, including two adopted daughters, the family fled Nazi Germany. Attenborough collected natural history specimens from his childhood. His professional and slightly eccentric style has long made him a favourite among British television viewers, and he remains highly respected by the scientific community; the biologist Richard Dawkins once called him "the most reasonable man in England".

Controller of BBC2

The UK national broadcaster's second TV channel began transmitting in 1964. Attenborough became the second BBC2 controller in 1965 after Michael Peacock. Under his watch the channel commissioned two major series: 'Civilization' presented by the art historian Lord Clark, and later 'The Ascent of Man' which looked at civilization scientifically. In 1969 he became BBC director of television.

Natural History on UK TV

For ten years up to 1963, UK TV broadcast Attenborough's first major TV series on nature, 'Zoo Quest,' made in cooperation with London Zoo. The programmes narrated the search for new specimens for the Zoo's collection.

Family

His older brother, Lord Richard Attenborough, acts in and directs film. His father, Frederick Levi Attenborough (1887–1973), taught and later took his BA in 1918 with a first in Medieval and Modern Languages at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. While a College Junior Fellow in 1922 Frederick published his research dissertation 'The Laws of the Earliest English Kings', which was reprinted in 2006. Frederick became Principal of Borough Road Training College, Isleworth (1924–32) and of University College, Leicester (1932–51) where David grew up on the campus.