Marie Paradis (1778 – 1839) was the first woman to climb

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

. Paradis was a poor maidservant who lived in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

at that time part of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. On 14 July 1808, in the company of renowned mountain guide

Jacques Balmat Jacques Balmat (), called ''Balmat du Mont Blanc'' (1762–1834) was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, born in the Chamonix valley in Savoy, at this time part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Description A chamois hunter and collector of cr ...

, she became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc, Western Europe's highest mountain. The party camped on the Grands Mulets, and during the final ascent Paradis became fatigued and was assisted by her guides. On the summit, Paradis was in such poor condition that she had difficulty breathing, was unable to speak, and could not see. Exhausted and quite undone by her efforts, she begged her companions to throw her into the nearest crevasse to end her misery.

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

reports that she took her boyfriend with her, a detail not found in other sources. In 1809 she recorded her experience in an "admirably graphic and picturesque" account. Le Blond reports that Paradis made "quite a fortune" out of her achievement. Afterwards she was known as "Maria de Mont Blanc";

Charles Edward Mathews Charles Edward Mathews (4 January 1834 – 20 October 1905) was an English mountaineer, a leading member of the Alpine Club and writer on mountaineering. In his professional career as solicitor he was active in public affairs in Birmingham. Life ...

notes, in ''The Annals of Mont Blanc'', that after her own successful climb she would leave refreshments for others who attempted Mont Blanc. The second woman to climb Mont Blanc did so thirty years after her; when

Henriette d'Angeville Henriette d'Angeville (10 March 1794 in Semur-en-Brionnais – 13 January 1871 in Lausanne) was the second woman to climb Mont Blanc. Biography Henriette d'Angeville was a descendant of a French aristocratic family. After the French Revolutio ...

celebrated her successful ascent in Chamonix, she was congratulated by Paradis who had received her special, personal invitation.Brown 26–28.

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Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paradis, Maria 1778 births 1839 deaths Kingdom of Sardinia mountain climbers Female climbers