Maurice Herzog

Maurice Herzog (1919 to 2012) was a French mountaineer and administrator, born in Lyon. He led the 1950 French Annapurna expedition, which made the first ascent of a peak over 8,000 metres: on 3 June 1950 he and Louis Lachenal reached the summit of Annapurna I, the tenth highest mountain in the world. The climb was all the more remarkable because the peak was explored, reconnoitred and climbed within a single season, without supplemental oxygen, and it remains the only 8,000 metre summit reached at the first attempt. Herzog was awarded the 1950 Gold Medal of the Société de Géographie, and on his return he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition, Annapurna.