Wyss-Dunant Edouard

(Bearbeiten)

Biografie:
geboren in Thann (Frankreich)
gestorben in Genf (Schweiz)

Quelle: Der Bergsteiger 1983, Heft 8, Seite 110
Quelle: SAC Die Alpen 1983, Seite 279
Quelle: DAV Mitteilungen 1983, Seite 374
Quelle Montagne 1983/84, Seite 248

Dr Edouard Wyss-Dunant 1897-1983. (Hon. Member 1949)
Edouard Wyss-Dunant, who died on 30 April 1983 at the age of 86, had a distinguished career in medicine, both in his own country and abroad. He published a number of treatises in his professional capacity and was the author of several mountaineering books. His name will, however, always be associated primarily with his leadership of the Swiss Expedition to Everest in 1952.
Edouard, whose surname denotes his parentage of a Swiss-German father and a Vaudoise mother, spent his childhood in Alsace, where his father managed a chemical works. He went on to study medicine in Geneva, where he also evinced an interest in music at the Conservatoire, as a flautist and 'cellist.
After receiving a doctorate in radiology in Zurich he set himself up as a practitioner in radiology in Bern and became a member of the Berner Akademische Alpen-Klub. Later, he moved into a practice in Geneva, where he met his future wife Lucrèce, and there he made his home, with the exception of a period spent in North Africa, for the rest of his life.
During his stay in Bern, Dr Wyss-Dunant climbed all the main summits in the Bernese Oberland: among the classic routes in his record at that time were the Mittellegi Ridge of the Eiger, the N Ridge of the Mönch and many good ascents in the Engelhörner. In his early 20's he traversed the Dent d'Herens from the Tiefenmatten-Joch to the Col du Lion and made a double traverse, in two days, of both the Matterhorn and the Dent d'Herens; he also achieved a solo traverse of the Matterhorn and climbed it by its formidable Furggen-Grat with Alexander Taugwalder. He climbed extensively in the Mont Blanc massif with Marcel Kurz.
Edouard also participated in several expeditions further afield: in Mexico (1936), East Africa (1937), Greenland (1938), Tibesti (Chad) (1946) and in the Himalaya (1947 and 1952). The accounts of these exploits are recorded in his books: Appels des Sommets and Au dela des Cimes, Sur les Hauts Plateaux Mexicains, Mes Ascensions en Afrique, Mirages Groenlandais and Forets et Cimes Himalayennes. The climax of his career as an alpinist was his selection, by the Schweizerische Stiftung fur Alpine Forschungen, as leader of the Geneva-based Swiss Expedition in 1952, during which Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norkay climbed to within 300m of the summit along the S E ridge. This tour deforce undoubtedly paved the way for our own success in the following year. In responding to a telegram of congratulations from the Stiftung, I had Edouard Wyss-Dunant particularly in mind when I wrote: 'A vous autres, une bonne moitie de la gloire.'
Dr Wyss-Dunant rendered great service to mountaineering as an administrator. He was a member of the Schweizerische Stiftung; he served successively as President of the Swiss Alpine Club and the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme. lt was in tribute to these services and to his life-long record as a climber that he was made an Honorary Member of the Alpine Club in 1963.
I came to know Edouard during the preparations for the 1953 Expedition and later, when I was President of the British Mountaineering Council and he was President of the UlAA. I recall vividly an annual conference of the Union in the Monte Viso National Park, when I was able to appreciate his deep love of the mountains, his gentleness and courtesy, his modesty and the special quality of his life-long partnership with his charming wife, Lucréce. It is to her that I dedicate this appreciation of a great man, whose many interests included the future of the young generation.
John Hunt
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 89, 1984, Seite 262-263

1937 1.Best.Assekrar über Ostwand,ca.3000m, (Ahaggargebirge,Sahara)
1937 1.Best.Tigmal,1680m, (Algerien)
1949 1.Best.Dzanye Peak,6710m, (Himalaya)
1949 1.Best.Tengkoma,6215m, (Himalaya)
1952 Expeditionsleiter Genfer Everest Expedition
Gerd Schauer, Isny

Geboren am:
1897
Gestorben am:
30.04.1983