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

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

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, 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 ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) 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 ...

. In 1881, they climbed the Ortler from the Hochjoch. Emil Zsigmondy was the friend and companion of

Ludwig Purtscheller Ludwig Purtscheller (6 October 1849 – 3 March 1900) was an Austrian 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 end of his life ...

, 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 : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

and the first guideless traverse of the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

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

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

by the east

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which 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 The mountains of the Massif des Écrins (; Écrins Massif) form the core of Écrins National Park in Hautes-Alpes and Isère in the French Alps. 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 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 Communes of France, commune in the Isère departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Isère department References

Communes of Isère Isère commu ...

in the

Dauphiné Alps The Dauphiné Alps (french: Alpes du Dauphiné) 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, Belledon ...

. He had graduated as a doctor of medicine in 1884, less than a year before his death. American historian and mountaineer W. A. B. Coolidge 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 Emilio Comici, Comici'') in the Sexten Dolomites.

Family

Emil Zsigmondy was the second of the four sons of Dr. Adolf Zsigmondy of Pressburg, a dentist of Hungarian people, 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, was a chemist and in 1925 received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The youngest of the four brothers, Karl Zsigmondy, was a mathematician; in number theory, Zsigmondy's theorem is named after him.Gos, p. 162. He was a cousin of the architect Frigyes Schulek, whose mother was Auguszta Zsigmondy.

Ascents

* 1879 - Ascent of Feldkopf (, Zillertal) with Otto Zsigmondy, 25 July * 1884 - First traverse of the Marmolada, of the Punta Rocca () to the Punta Penia () with Otto Zsigmondy and Ludwig Purtscheller * 1884 - First ascent ''sans guide'' of Monte Civetta with Otto Zsigmondy, 5 August * 1884 - First route of the southwest face of the Croda di Trafoi ( Ortler) with Otto Zsigmondy, G. Geyer and J. Prohaska, 23 August * 1884 - First ascent of the south face of the Bietschhorn () with Otto Zsigmondy, Ludwig Purtscheller and Karl Schulz, 2 September * 1885 - Ascent of Bec de l'Homme (,

Massif des Écrins The mountains of the Massif des Écrins (; Écrins Massif) form the core of Écrins National Park in Hautes-Alpes and Isère in the French Alps.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 19th-century Austrian physicians Austrian mountain climbers Austrian people of Hungarian descent Austrian Protestants Mountaineering deaths Physicians from Vienna