Maurice Herzog: Difference between revisions

| death_place = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], [[Île-de-France]], France

| spouse = Marie-Pierre de Cossé-Brissac (1964-19761964–1976)<br />Élisabeth Gamper (1976)

'''Maurice André Raymond Herzog''' ({{IPA|fr|mɔʁis ɑ̃dʁe ʁemɔ̃ ɛʁzɔɡ}}; 15 January 1919{{spnd}}13 December 2012)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ledauphine.com/france-monde/2012/12/14/mort-dfe-maurice-herzog |title=Maurice Herzog, la mort d’und'un héros d’aprèsd'après-guerre aux versants contrastés |publisher=Le Dauphiné Libéré |date=13 December 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=14 December 2012}}</ref><ref>[{{Cite news |date=2012-12-14 |title=L'alpiniste et ancien ministre Maurice Herzog est mort |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2012/12/14/l-alpiniste-et-ancien-ministre-maurice-herzog-est-mort_1806643_3382.html ''L'alpiniste|access-date=2022-10-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite etnews ancien ministre|date=2012-09-13 |title=Maurice Herzog est: mort'']</ref><ref>[la légende et ses failles |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2012/09/13/herzog-devisse_1760048_3242.html ''Maurice Herzog : la légende et ses failles'']|access-date=2022-10-06}}</ref> was a French [[Mountaineering|mountaineer]] and administrator who was born in [[Lyon, France]]. He led the [[1950 French Annapurna expedition]] that first climbed [[Eight-thousander|a peak over 8000m]], [[Annapurna]], in 1950, and reached the summit with [[Louis Lachenal]]. Upon his return, he wrote a [[Annapurna (book)|best-selling book about the expedition, ''[[Annapurna (book)|Annapurna]]''.

== Ascent of Annapurna I: a historic exploit ==

On 3 June 1950, Herzog and [[Louis Lachenal]] became the first climbers in modern history to climb [[Eight-thousander|a peak over 8000m]] when, on the 1950 French Annapurna expedition, they summited the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] mountain [[Annapurna]] I, the 10th-highest mountain in the world.<ref name=":0" /> The ascent was all the more remarkable because the peak was explored, reconnoitered and climbed all within one season; and was climbed without the use of supplemental oxygen. It is also the only 8000 meter summit that was reached at the first attempt. Herzog was awarded the 1950 [[Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations|Gold Medal]] of the [[Société de Géographie]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.socgeo.org/grande-medaille-dor-des-explorations-et-voyages-de-decouverte/ |title=GRANDE MÉDAILLE D’ORD'OR DES EXPLORATIONS ET VOYAGES DE DÉCOUVERTE (in French) |publisher=Société de géographie |accessdateaccess-date=1 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206004240/http://www.socgeo.org/grande-medaille-dor-des-explorations-et-voyages-de-decouverte/ |archivedatearchive-date=6 December 2014 }}</ref>

The two-week retreat from the peak proved very challenging. Both climbers had opted for light boots for the summit dash. This, combined with Herzog losing his gloves near the summit and a night spent bivouacked in a crevasse on the descent with one sleeping bag for four climbers (Lachenal, [[Gaston Rébuffat]], [[Lionel Terray]], and Herzog) resulted in severe [[frostbite]], with consequent [[gangrene]] requiring the [[expedition medicine|expedition doctor]] to perform emergency [[amputation]]s in the field.<ref>{{cite book | last = Herzog | first = Maurice | title = Annapurna | publisher = The Lyons Press | year = 1997 | location = New York, New York, United States | pages = | url = https://archive.org/details/annapurnafirstco0000herz | doi = | isbn = 1-55821-549-2 | url-access = registration }}</ref> Both summit climbers lost all of their toes and Herzog most of his fingers.

Annapurna I was not climbed again until 1970, when the French north face route was climbed by a British Army expedition led by Colonel [[Henry Day (British Army officer)|Henry Day]], simultaneously with an ascent of the south face by an expedition led by British climber [[Chris Bonington]]. The mountain's fourth ascent was not until 1977.<ref>{{cite book | last = Baume | first = Louis C. | title = Sivalaya | publisher = The Mountaineers | year = 1979 | location = Seattle, Washington, United States | pages = | url = | doi = | isbn = 0-916890-71-6 }}</ref>

| publisher = Touchstone/Simon & Schuster | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 226 | url = | doi = | isbn = 0-7432-0327-5 }}</ref> then in English in 1952 under the title ''[[Annapurna (book)|Annapurna]]''. The book has sold over 11&nbsp;million copies as of 2000, more than any other mountaineering title.<ref name=NYT>{{Cite news | last = Barcott | first = Bruce | title = No Room at the Top | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 4 June 2000 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/04/reviews/000604.04barc.html | accessdateaccess-date = 6 January 2010 }}</ref> Ending with the stirring line "there are other Annapurnas in the lives of men" (in the context of the book, an exhortation to answer the challenges that life offers), the book gave an account of the expedition that established Herzog's climbing reputation and inspired a generation of mountaineers.

Herzog went on to become the French [[Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (France)|Minister of Youth and Sport]] from 1958 to 1963, and mayor of the alpine town of [[Chamonix-Mont-Blanc]]. He was a member of the [[International Olympic Committee]] for 25 years from 1970, and has an honorary member after 1995. He was a Grand Officer of the [[Legion d'Honneur]] and holder of the [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]] for military service 1939–45.<ref>{{cite book | last = Latorre Torres | first = Ferrán | title = Conversaciones con Maurice Herzog | publisher = Ediciones Desnivel | year = 2002 | location = Paris, France | pages = | url = | doi = | isbn = 978-84-95760-36-4 }}</ref>

Herzog was a 1944 graduate of the French business school [[HEC Paris]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web | title = Maurice Herzog (HEC 1944M) | publisher = HEC France | url = http://www.hec.fr/Actualites/Les-rubriques-de-la-page-d-accueil/Un-diplome-a-la-Une/Maurice-Herzog-HEC-1944M | accessdateaccess-date = 7 January 2010 | url-status = dead | archiveurlarchive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100102043427/http://www.hec.fr/Actualites/Les-rubriques-de-la-page-d-accueil/Un-diplome-a-la-Une/Maurice-Herzog-HEC-1944M | archivedatearchive-date = 2 January 2010 }}</ref>

| pages = | url =https://archive.org/details/annapurnafirstco00herz_0| url-access = registration | doi =

*{{cite book | last = Herzog | first = Maurice | title = Annapurna | publisher = The Lyons Press | year = 1997 | location = New York, New York | pages = | url = https://archive.org/details/annapurnafirstco0000herz | doi = | isbn = 1-55821-549-2 | url-access = registration }} (current American edition)

| year = 2000 | location = London, UK | pages = | url = | doi =

| year = 1999 | location = London, UK | pages = | url = | doi =

| pages = | url = | doi = | isbn = 0-7432-0327-5 }}

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