Joy Adamson (born Friederike Victoria Gessner; 20 January 1910, Opava – 3 January 1980 Shaba National Reserve) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. Born Free was printed in several languages, and made into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same name. In 1977, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art.