Personal details
Full Name:
- Edmund Percival Hillary
Lifetime:
- 20 Jul 1919–11 Jan 2008

Edmund Hillary, climbing with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was the first person to reach the summit of Mt Everest – the world’s highest mountain.
Read more...Events In History
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4 January 1958Hillary leads New Zealand party to South Pole
Sir Edmund Hillary’s New Zealand team became the first to reach the South Pole overland since Robert Falcon Scott in 1912, and the first to do so in motor vehicles. Read more...
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29 May 1953Hillary and Tenzing reach summit of Everest
A beekeeper from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to stand on the summit of the world’s highest peak. Read more...
Articles
Edmund Hillary
The legendary mountaineer, adventurer and philanthropist – whose familiar, craggy face beams out from the $5 note – is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived. His ascent of Mt Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953 brought him worldwide fame – literally overnight.
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Page 2 – The early years
Edmund Hillary's early life included bee-keeping, tramping and involvement in the Radiant Living movement.
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Page 3 – From Everest to the South Pole
On 29 May – four days before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II – Hillary and the experienced Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mt Everest and became
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Page 4 – The end of the 'big mountain days'
Through the 1960s and 1970s Ed Hillary’s life followed a familiar pattern of international travel, lecture tours and fund-raising for Sherpa projects, interspersed with
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Page 5 – Honouring Edmund Hillary
In 1987 Ed Hillary was among the first 20 people selected as members of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ), this country’s highest honour. He has been the recipient of
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Page 6 – Further information
Websites and publications about Edmund Hillary
Antarctica and New Zealand
NZ and Antarctica share a long and rich history. From Tuati in 1840 to Edmund Hillary in the 1950s and more recent scientists, Kiwis have explored, examined and endured the frozen continent.
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Page 2 – First among men
New Zealanders were involved in a number of significant Antarctic firsts - notably, the first landing on the continent proper in 1895 and the first overland crossing between
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Page 3 – Triumph and tragedy
There is a New Zealand connection to a number of triumphs and tragedies that have occurred in Antarctica.
School of Radiant Living
The School of Radiant Living was a movement active in New Zealand from the late 1930s until the late 1980s. Founder Dr Herbert Sutcliffe taught a holistic philosophy of physical, psychological and spiritual health.
- Page 7 - Edmund HillaryOne of the first New Zealand schools of Radiant Living was established in Auckland. Its secretary was Gertrude Hillary who reported progress early in 1939. Her son, Edmund, was an
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Main image: Ed Hillary conquers Mt Everest stamp
Hillary's historic world-first climb to the top of Mount Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953 features on the $1.00 stamp