Sir Edmund Hillary

Introduction

Edmund Hillary was born on July 20, 1919 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Edmund Hillary is a famous mountain climber, he is the first one who

reached Mount Everest. In 1992 Edmund Hillary’s face was on the

updated New Zealand $5 note.

Discovering The Heights

Hillary was a mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist.

Hillary became interested in mountaineering when he was 16 years old , in secondary school. Edmund Hillary first joined Everest expeditions in 1951 and 1952. On 29 May 1952, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest.

Youth

Hillary attended Tuakau Primary School and

then at Auckland Grammar School. He studied

mathematics and science at Auckland University.

At the age of 16, his interest in climbing was sparked

during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu, and in 1939 he

completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of

Mount Ollivier, near Aoraki/Mount Cook in the Southern Alps.

Personal Life

Hillary was married two times. The first time he

brought his fate with Louise Mary Rose. They married

on 3 september 1953.  Then they  had three children Peter(*1954),

Sarah(81955) and Belinda(1959-1975). After 22 years of life Louse

and Hillary together, Louise and Belinda  were killed in a plane

crash near Kathmandu Airport shortly after the take-off. In 1989,

he then married June Mulgrew, the widow of his close friend Peter Mulgrew.

Death

On the 11th of January 2008, Hillary died because

of heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital at

around 9 in the morning (NZDT). His death was

recognised by the lowering of the flags to half-mast

on all the government and public buildings and

also at the Scott Base in Antarctica