The New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary (born July 29, 1919) was the first to set foot on world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953 along with his co-climber Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Darjeeling, India. On reaching the top, he said “To my great delight I realized we were on top of Mount Everest and the whole world spread out below us”.
He started a NGO Himalayan Trust in 1961 to for the welfare of the Sherpa community and was proud of the good work the Trust has been doing in Nepal. The Trust has started schools, provided medical care, drinking water systems and scholarships for studies for the Sherpa children. Hillary also campaigned for a cleaner and environment-friendly Himalayas which he loved till the last day. Nepal conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary in 2003 during celebration of the 50th year of the Everest conquest. Hillary became the first living New Zealander to appear on a bank note (5 dollar note) in 1990.
Hillary’s first marriage was with Louise Rose in 1953, who along with youngest of the three sons died in a plane crash in Kathmandu in 1975. Sir Ed is no more. His second wife June Hillary from Auckland said that she will single-handedly continue her husband’s great mission - upliftment of the Sherpa community, for which he dedicated 40 years of his life.
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