Edward FitzGerald (mountaineer)
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Edward Arthur FitzGerald (10 May 1871 – 2 January 1931) was an American-born
mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
and soldier of British descent, best known for leading the expedition which made the first ascent of
Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the Southern Hemisphere with a summi ...
, the highest mountain in South America, in 1897.


Background and education

FitzGerald was born in 1871 at
Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorpora ...
, and was the third son of William John FitzGerald, barrister, a British subject, and Mary, daughter of Eli White, of New York. He was educated at St Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
, where he matriculated in 1890 but did not graduate. His elder brother was Augustine (called Austin), a painter, and his elder sister was Caroline, a poet.


Mountaineering

He joined the Himalayan explorer Martin Conway for a walk across the Alps in 1894, where he met the Swiss guide
Matthias Zurbriggen Matthias Zurbriggen (15 May 1856 in Saas-Fee – 21 June 1917 in Geneva) was a Swiss mountaineer. He climbed throughout the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas and New Zealand. Ascents He made many first ascents, the best known of which is Aconcag ...
. Sufficiently impressed, FitzGerald decided to hire Zurbriggen as his guide for the next five years. In 1894/95 FitzGerald travelled to New Zealand, intending to make the first ascent of Mount Cook, but local climbers, alarmed their highest mountain might first be climbed by foreigners, climbed it a few days after FitzGerald's arrival. He and Zurbriggen made the first ascent of Mount Sefton, and with the New Zealander Jack Clarke (who had made the first ascent of Mount Cook), made first ascents of Mount Sealy,
Silberhorn The Silberhorn (3,695 m) is a pyramid-shaped mountain of the Bernese Alps, to the northwest of the Jungfrau of which it is a satellite peak. A first attempt to reach the summit of the Silberhorn was made in June 1863 by M. v. Fellenberg from th ...
, Mount Tasman and Mount Haidinger.


Aconcagua expedition

In 1896/97 FitzGerald personally financed and led a large expedition to South America to complete scientific surveys and make first ascents of some of the highest peaks in the Andes. The expedition included a geologist, surveyor, engineer, and naturalist, and six alpine guides led by Zurbriggen. After reconnoitering the
Vacas ''Vacas'' (English: ''Cows'') is a 1991 Spanish film, written and directed by Julio Médem. The film stars Carmelo Gómez, Emma Suárez, Ana Torrent, and Karra Elejalde. An eerie family saga set in rural Basque Country, the cryptic film foll ...
valley approach to Aconcagua, FitzGerald made a base camp at around in the Horcones Valley, where several attempts were made to reach the summit via what is now known as the Normal Route. Five attempts were made over six weeks before Zurbriggen reached the summit alone on 14 January 1897. FitzGerald had been with Zurbriggen during the ascent, but on all attempts became nauseous at around . Eventually, fearing he would never reach the summit and the first ascent of Aconcagua would not be made, he sent Zurbriggen on alone. A period of heavy snow followed Zurbriggen's ascent, during which no further attempts could be made, but FitzGerald continued the siege a month later. Again he became ill during the ascent, but on 13 February 1897, the Englishman Stuart Vines and Italian guide Nicola Lanti also reached the summit. Later in the expedition Vines and Zurbriggen also made the first ascent of
Tupungato Tupungato, one of the highest mountains in the Americas, is a massive Andean lava dome dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the border between the Chilean Metropolitan Region (near a major international highway about east of Santiago) and t ...
.


Career and personal life after Aconcagua

In 1900 FitzGerald joined the imperial yeomanry to fight in the South African War, where he received a commission as second lieutenant in the 5th dragoon guards, and first lieutenant in 1901. He was later transferred to the
6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the ...
, and was promoted captain in 1906, and major in 1912. He was employed in the War Office from 1914 to 1919. In 1903 he stopped climbing after an accident in
Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...
and married traveller and author Ménie Muriel Dowie (1866–1945). FitzGerald died on 2 January 1931 at
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.


Legacy

FitzGerald is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of South American lizard, '' Liolaemus fitzgeraldi''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Fitzgerald", pp. 90–91).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, Edward 1871 births 1931 deaths American mountain climbers