Portal:New Zealand/Selected article/10
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Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. Hillary also led the third team to reach the South Pole over land. He devoted much energy to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through his Himalayan Trust, building many schools and hospitals for instance.
Hillary was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 16 July 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on 23 April 1995. He has been the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during their lifetime. Various streets, schools, and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him.
To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest, the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu. He was the first foreign national to receive such an honour from the Nepalese.
