Mountaineer and explorer, and later writer and lecturer, born in Auckland, New Zealand. As a member of John Hunt's Everest expedition he attained, with Tenzing Norgay, the summit of Mt Everest in 1953, for which he was knighted. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (19558) led by Sir Vivian Fuchs, he and a New Zealand expeditionary party reached the South Pole in 1958. He subsequently established a medical and educational charity, the Himalayan Trust, for the Sherpa peoples of Nepal, which since 1961 has built many schools and two hospitals. His autobiography, Nothing Venture, Nothing Win, appeared in 1975. He was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to India in 1984. His son, Peter Hillary, also reached the summit of Mt Everest in 1990. On 29 May 2003 he was granted honorary citizenship of Nepal to mark the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest.
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (born 20 July 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer.
The feat was accomplished as part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. After descending, Hillary stated that he and Tenzing had "knocked the bastard off", a phrase which has found its way into colloquial New Zealand English.
Youth
Born in Tuakau (south of Auckland), he attended Auckland Grammar School.
Expeditions
During World War II he was a RNZAF navigator. He was part of a British reconnaisance expedition to Everest in 1951 led by Eric Shipton before joining the successful British attempt of 1953. He also reached the South Pole, as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition for which he led the New Zealand section, on 4 January 1958. That same year, Hillary was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner (Ambassador) to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and spent four and a half years based in New Delhi.
In 1979, he had been scheduled to act as a commentator on the ill-fated Air New Zealand Flight 901, but had to pull out due to work commitments elsewhere.
Recognition
Hillary was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 16 July 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; He is the only living New Zealander to appear on a banknote. Various streets, schools, and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him. A few examples are Hillary College (Otara), Edmund Hillary Primary School (Papakura), and the Hillary Commission (now SPARC).
To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest, the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Sir Edmund at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in the capital, Kathmandu.
Philanthropy
He has devoted much of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust which he founded and to which he has given much of his time and energy. During the mid-1980s, he was New Zealand's High Commissioner to India (the equivalent of an Ambassador between Commonwealth countries), where he was in frequent demand as a guest of honour.
Hillary has recently spoken of his disdain for the attitudes displayed by many modern mountaineers. In particular he publicly criticised New Zealander Mark Inglis and 40 other climbers who, in various groups, left British climber David Sharp to die in May 2006. "They don’t give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn’t impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die.".
Politics
Hillary took part in the 1975 general election, as a member of the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.
Quotes
"We didn't know if it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt.Trivia
While The Lord of the Rings was filming in New Zealand, Hillary came to visit the set meeting the cast, crew, and director Peter Jackson.
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