François Devouassoud (September 1831 – 1905) was a French

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

who made many first ascents in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, notably as guide to Douglas William Freshfield, who claimed that Devouassoud "was the first Alpine guide to carry his ice-axe to the snows of a distant range".Freshfield, 1902, p. 18.

Life

Devouassoud was born in 1831 in the hamlet of Les BaratsCunningham and Abney, 1888, p. 105 in the

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

valley. The eldest of three brothers, both of whom were also guides, Devouassoud was educated at

Sallanches Sallanches (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, M ...

, and subsequently at Bonneville. He passed some time in a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

seminary in his youth and he contemplated becoming a priestCunningham and Abney, 1888, p. 28 but returned to Chamonix.

Mountaineering

Alps

He was admitted to the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix in 1849.Cunningham and Abney, 1888, p. 107 Amongst those who sought his services in the Alps were Freshfield, W. A. B. Coolidge,

Francis Fox Tuckett Francis Fox Tuckett FRGS (10 February 1834 – 20 June 1913)D.W.F., 'Obituary: Francis Fox Tuckett' in ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 42, No. 2 (August 1913), pp. 206–207 was an English mountaineer. He was vice-president of the Alpine Club ...

Horace Walker Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses. Alpinism Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker ( ...

Adolphus Warburton Moore Adolphus Warburton Moore (1841–1887) (known generally as A. W. Moore) was a British civil servant and mountaineer. Life The son of Major John Arthur Moore and Sophia Stewart Yates, Moore was an India Office official from 1858 to 1887, holding ...

and Charles Comyns Tucker. Devouassoud was treasurer of the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix for ten years, but refused the post of president. Claire Engel offers the following portrait of Devouassoud, based on the account of Freshfield:

Greater Ranges

As Freshfield stated, Devouassoud was the first alpine guide to work in the greater ranges. Cunningham and Abney write that he was "the doyen of the pioneers who have set out at different times for the Caucasus, the Himalayas, New Zealand, or the Andes". In 1868 he made the first ascents of

Kazbek Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi, , romanized: ''q'azbegi''; ; ; ; is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located in Georgia, just south of the border with Russia. Lying at 5,054 meters (16,581 ft) above ...

and the east summit of

Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant volcano, dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the List of mountain peaks by prominence, tenth-most promi ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. In 1887 he was the subject of a photograph by Abney, possibly the one illustrating this article, entitled "A Chamounix Guide, Francois Devouassoud" at the 32nd Exhibition of

Photographic Society of Great Britain The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

First ascents

* 25 August 1864 -

Presanella Presanella is a mountain in the Adamello-Presanella range of the Italian Alps of northern Italy. Presanella has an elevation of 3,558 meters and is located in the Adamello Brenta National Park within the Trentino province of Italy. Climbing h ...

with M. Beachcroft, Douglas William Freshfield and

* 16 June 1865 -

Grande Mèsule Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places *Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany * Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroi ...

with G. H. Fox, Douglas William Freshfield, Francis Fox Tuckett and Peter Michel * 28 June 1865 - Pizzo Tresero (Ortles massif) with Francis Fox Tuckett, J.H. Backhouse, G.H. Fox and Peter Michel * 10 July 1866 - North-west ridge of the

Bietschhorn The Bietschhorn (3,934 m) is a mountain in canton Wallis to the south of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. The northeast and southern slopes of the mountain are part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area (formerly ''Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhor ...

with Charles Comyns Tucker and F. von Allmen * 27 July 1867 -

Piz Badile Piz Badile (3,308 m) is a mountain of the Bregaglia range in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the Italian region of Lombardy. The border between the two countries runs along the summit ridge. Its north-east face, overlooking the Swiss Val B ...

with

William Auguste Coolidge William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge (; August 28, 1850 – May 8, 1926) was an American historian, theologian and mountaineer. Early life and education William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge was born in New York City in 1850 as the son of Frederi ...

and Henri DevouassoudRobin Collomb, ''Bregaglia West'', Goring: West Col Productions, 1988 * 1 July 1868 -

with Douglas William Freshfield, Adolphus Warburton Moore and Charles Comyns Tucker * 31 July 1868 - North-west summit of Elbruz with Douglas William Freshfield, Adolphus Warburton Moore and Charles Comyns Tucker * 1875 - Sass Maor (Dolomites) with H. A. Beachcroft and Charles Comyns TuckerCunningham and Abney, 1888, p. 109

Bibliography

*C. D. Cunningham and W. de W. Abney, ''The Pioneers of the Alps'', Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1888. *Douglas William Freshfield, ''The Exploration of the Caucasus'', volume 1, London: Edward Arnold, 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devouassoud, Francois 1831 births 1905 deaths Alpine guides French mountain climbers