Jürg Marmet (14 September 1927 – 8 March 2013) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 ...

. Marmet was part of the first two-man Swiss team which climbed

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1956. (Prior to this, only Sir Edmund Hillary and

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...

had successfully climbed the mountain in 1953). Marmet and his climbing partner, Ernst Schmied, became the third and fourth people (and the second two-man team) to reach Mount Everest's summit on 23 May 1956. He was also one of the first Swiss citizens to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Marmet and Schmied narrowly beat the next Swiss team to the top: The next day, the next two-man Swiss expedition of Hansruedi von Gunten and Dölf Reist reached the top of the mountain on 24 May 1956. Marmet and Schmied were also the first Swiss to ascend

Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...

in 1956. Marmet was born in

Bern, Switzerland Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, on 14 September 1927. He married Elsbeth Knoerr and had three children. He was a

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

by profession and retired in 1992. Jürg Marmet died in

Allschwil Allschwil () is a List of towns in Switzerland, village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arlesheim (district), Arlesheim in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Allschwil is a sea ...

, Switzerland, on 8 March 2013, at the age of 85.

References

See also