Edmund Hillary
Mountaineer
1919 – 2008
Who was Edmund Hillary?
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. Hillary was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school, making his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the 1953 Everest expedition, Hillary had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. He subsequently reached the North Pole, making him the first person to reach both poles and summit Everest.
Following his ascent of Everest, Hillary devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.
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- Born
- Jul 20, 1919
Auckland - Also known as
- Sir Edmund Hillary
- Sir Edmund Percival Hillary
- Spouses
- June Mulgrew
(1989/12/21 - ) - Louise Mary Rose
(1953/09/03 - 1975)
- June Mulgrew
- Children
- Ethnicity
- Kiwi
- Nationality
- New Zealand
- Profession
- Education
- Auckland Grammar School
- University of Auckland
- Died
- Jan 11, 2008
Auckland
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Edmund Hillary." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/edmund_hillary>.
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