Emil Zsigmondy (11 August 1861 – 6 August 1885) was an Austrian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

Life

Zsigmondy's parents were Hungarians: Adolf Zsigmondy, born in Pozsony, and Irma von Szakmáry, born in

Martonvásár Martonvásár is the 11th largest town in Fejér county, Hungary. It's a popular tourist destination in Hungary because of the Brunszvik Palace where Ludwig van Beethoven stayed and wrote "Für Elise". There is also a museum for Beethoven. The tow ...

. Zsigmondy was an excellent

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

, known for the risky nature of many of his climbs. He began mountaineering as a teenager, climbing the Reisseck in Austria in a round trip of 26 hours with his brother, Otto Zsigmondy. By the late 1870s the two brothers were climbing without guides in the

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps (; ) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. Name The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. Geography The range is bounded by the ''Tuxerjoch'' m ...

. In 1881, they climbed the

Ortler Ortler (; ) is, at above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall ...

from the

Hochjoch The Hochjoch (elevation 2,875 m, 9,432 ft) is a mountain pass in the Ötztal Alps on the border between Tyrol, Austria, and South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous ...

. Emil Zsigmondy was the friend and companion of

Ludwig Purtscheller Ludwig Purtscheller (6 October 1849 – 3 March 1900) was an Austrian mountaineering, mountaineer and teacher. Purtscheller pioneered climbing without a mountain guide, who in the 19th century did all the route finding and lead climbing. By the ...

, the great pioneer of guideless Alpine climbing. Emil and Otto climbed with Purtscheller in 1882 and 1884, including an ascent without guides of the Marinelli Couloir on

Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...

and the first guideless traverse of the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

.''Mountaineers'' (Douglas/Smithsonian), p. 115. Zsigmondy's outstanding achievements include the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

by the east

arête An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...

of the high

Meije La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins range, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and Isère '' départements''. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its off-piste ...

in the

Massif des Écrins Massif des Écrins (; Écrins Massif) are a massif in the French Alps. They form the core of Écrins National Park in Hautes-Alpes and Isère. The face was only conquered in 1912 by the South Tyrolese climbers

Angelo Dibona Angelo Dibona (7 April 1879 – 21 April 1956, nickname: Pilato) was an Austro-Hungarian and Italian mountaineer. He is remembered as one of the great pioneers of climbing in the Dolomites and is responsible for many first ascents throughout the ...

and

Luigi Rizzi Luigi Rizzi may refer to: * Luigi Rizzi (footballer) (1907–?), Italian footballer with Inter Milan in the 1930s * Luigi Rizzi (linguist) Luigi Rizzi (born 3 June 1952 in Genoa) is an Italian linguist. Rizzi is currently a full professor at ...

with the brothers Guido and Max Mayer. Emil Zsigmondy's grave is a few miles away from the accident site in the small cemetery of

Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans (, ) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Climate Population See also *Communes of the Isère department The following is a list of the 512 communes in the French department of Is� ...

in the

Dauphiné Alps The Dauphiné Alps () are a group of mountain ranges in Southeastern France, west of the main chain of the Alps. Mountain ranges within the Dauphiné Alps include the Massif des Écrins in Écrins National Park, Belledonne, Le Taillefer range ...

. He had graduated as a

doctor of medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

in 1884, less than a year before his death. American historian and mountaineer

W. A. B. Coolidge William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge (; August 28, 1850 – May 8, 1926) was an American historian, theologian and mountaineer. Early life and education William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge was born in New York City in 1850 as the son of Frederi ...

would later write: Zsigmondy is commemorated by the Zsigmondyspitze in the

, the Brèche Zsigmondy on the Meije (part of the route followed on the successful July 1885 climb), and the Zsigmondyhütte (''Rifugio Zsigmondy Comici'') in the

Sexten Dolomites The Sexten Dolomites (; ) is a mountain range and a nature reserve in South Tyrol, Italy. The nature park was renamed in 2010 to Naturpark Drei Zinnen – Parco Naturale Tre Cime. Peaks References External links Civic network of South ...

Family

Emil Zsigmondy was the second of the four sons of Dr.

Adolf Zsigmondy Dr. Adolf Zsigmondy, aka Adolph Zsigmondy (24 April 1816 in Pozsony (), Kingdom of Hungary – 23 June 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was a dentist of Hungarian origin who lived in Vienna. He is best known for inventing the idea of charting tee ...

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

of Hungarian origin, and Irma von Szakmáry, a poet from

. His older brother, Otto, a dentist by profession, was also known as a mountaineer. His younger brother,

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-born chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925, as well as for co-inventing the slit- ultramic ...

, was a chemist and in 1925 received the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

. The youngest of the four brothers,

Karl Zsigmondy Karl Zsigmondy () (27 March 1867 – 14 October 1925) was an Austro-Hungarian mathematician. He was a son of Adolf Zsigmondy from Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia) and his mother was Irma von Szakmáry of Martonvásár, King ...

, was a mathematician; in number theory,

Zsigmondy's theorem In number theory, Zsigmondy's theorem, named after Karl Zsigmondy, states that if a>b>0 are coprime integers, then for any integer n \ge 1, there is a prime number ''p'' (called a ''primitive prime divisor'') that divides a^n-b^n and does not divi ...

is named after him.Gos, p. 162. He was a cousin of the architect

Frigyes Schulek Frigyes Schulek (19 November 1841 – 5 September 1919) was a Hungarian architect,
Hungarian Electronic Library, retr ...

, whose mother was Auguszta Zsigmondy.

Ascents

* 1879 - Ascent of Feldkopf (,

Zillertal The Ziller Valley () is a valley in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria that is drained by the Ziller River. It is the widest valley south of the Inn (river), Inn Valley () and lends its name to the Zillertal Alps, the strongly Glacier, glaciated sectio ...

) with Otto Zsigmondy, 25 July * 1884 - First traverse of the

Marmolada Marmolada (Ladin language, Ladin: ''Marmolèda''; German language, German: ''Marmolata'', ) is a mountain in northeastern Italy and the highest mountain of the Dolomites (a section of the Alps). It lies between the borders of Trentino and Ven ...

, of the Punta Rocca () to the Punta Penia () with Otto Zsigmondy and Ludwig Purtscheller * 1884 - First ascent ''sans guide'' of

Monte Civetta Monte Civetta (3,220 m) is a prominent and major mountain of the Dolomites, in the Province of Belluno in northern Italy. Its north-west face can be viewed from the Taibon Agordino valley, and is classed as one of the symbols of the Dolomites. ...

with Otto Zsigmondy, 5 August * 1884 - First route of the southwest face of the Croda di Trafoi (

) with Otto Zsigmondy, G. Geyer and J. Prohaska, 23 August * 1884 - First ascent of the south face of the

Bietschhorn The Bietschhorn (3,934 m) is a mountain in canton Wallis to the south of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The northeast and southern slopes of the mountain are part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area (formerly ''Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhor ...

() with Otto Zsigmondy, Ludwig Purtscheller and Karl Schulz, 2 September * 1885 - Ascent of Bec de l'Homme (,

Massif des Écrins Massif des Écrins (; Écrins Massif) are a massif in the French Alps. They form the core of Écrins National Park in Hautes-Alpes and Isère.Meije La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins range, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and Isère '' départements''. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its off-piste ...

with Otto Zsigmondy and Ludwig Purtscheller, 26 and 27 July * 1885 - Attempted ascent of the south face of the Meije with Otto Zsigmondy and Karl Schulz, 6 August

Publications

* Gos, pp. 162-164. (later editions continued by Wilhelm Paulcke and Helmut Dumler) * (posthumous)

References

External links

* * * Photos of the Zsigmondyhütte in the Sexten Dolomites {{DEFAULTSORT:Zsigmondy, Emil 1861 births 1885 deaths Mountain climbers from Austria-Hungary Mountaineering deaths Physicians from Austria-Hungary Sport deaths in France