Edmund Hillary

1919–2008 · New Zealander (Auckland) · Modern Era

Known for: First confirmed person to summit Mount Everest, with Tenzing Norgay—then spent decades building schools and hospitals for Sherpa communities

Hillary was a beekeeper and amateur mountaineer who became the most famous New Zealander in history. On May 29, 1953, he and Tenzing Norgay became the first people confirmed to reach the summit of Everest. His first words to his companion George Lowe upon descending: 'We knocked the bastard off!'

After Everest, he drove modified farm tractors to the South Pole, explored the Ganges from source to sea, and spent 30 years building schools, hospitals, and bridges for Sherpa communities in Nepal. He was genuinely humble, preferring to talk about Sherpa needs rather than his own achievements.

What Edmund Hillary would be watching

The “if they lived today” Q&A on this page gives Edmund Hillary Touching the Void (2003) as a favourite film. Their reason: “That's what mountaineering actually is. Not glory—survival.” Rankquant scores it above 95% of films, drawn from 118 IMDb reviewers individually re-centred rather than averaged raw. The full film & TV rankings are built the same way.

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