Abstract
Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) was New Zealand mountain climber and Antarctic explorer who, with the Tibetan mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest (8 850 metres), the highest mountain in the world. He is considered the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived.
Over the years numerous honours were bestowed on him, including the Order of the Garter in 1995. Throughout it, however, he maintained a high level of humility, and his main interest came to be the welfare of the Himalayan peoples of Nepal, especially the Sherpas.
This dedication to the Sherpas was recognized in 2003, when he was made an honorary citizen of Nepal. We commemorate 100th birth anniversary of "Burra-sahib", or "Sir Ed" (as Hillary was called by Sherpas), this year.