Maria Paradis
Encyclopedia
Maria Paradis was the first woman to climb Mont Blanc
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Paradis was a poor maidservant who lived in Chamonix
. On 14 July 1808, in the company of renowned mountain guide Jacques Balmat
(possibly instigated by some of his sons, also guides), she became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain. The party camped on the Grand Mulets, and during the final ascent Paradis suffered from fatigue and was assisted by her guides. Mark Twain
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.
Afterward she was known as "Maria de Mont Blanc"; Charles Edward Matthews 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
celebrated her successful ascent in Chamonix, she was congratulated by Paradis who has received her special, personal invitation.
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
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Paradis was a poor maidservant who lived in Chamonix
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...
. On 14 July 1808, in the company of renowned mountain guide Jacques Balmat
Jacques Balmat
Jacques Balmat, called le Mont Blanc was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, and born a citizen of the Kingdom of Sardinia....
(possibly instigated by some of his sons, also guides), she became the first woman to climb Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain. The party camped on the Grand Mulets, and during the final ascent Paradis suffered from fatigue and was assisted by her guides. Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
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.
Afterward she was known as "Maria de Mont Blanc"; Charles Edward Matthews 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
Henriette d'Angeville was the second woman to climb Mont Blanc.-Biography:Henriette d'Angeville was a descendant of a French aristocratic family. After the French Revolution, her father was imprisoned and her grandfather executed, and the family moved to Bugey in the Rhône-Alpes region...
celebrated her successful ascent in Chamonix, she was congratulated by Paradis who has received her special, personal invitation.