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Brigitte Muir

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Brigitte Muir
Personal information
Birth nameBrigitte Leonce Suzanne Koch
Born (1958-09-08) 8 September 1958 (age 66)
Ougrée, Seraing, Belgium
Career
Notable ascentsMount Everest (1997)
Seven Summits (1997)
Shivling (1986)
Family
SpouseEric Renz. Former husband Jon Muir

Brigitte Leonce Suzanne Muir OAM (born 8 September 1958)[1] is a Belgian-born Australian mountain climber. Her climbing career spanned over thirty years.[2]

Early life and education

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Muir was born Brigitte Koch in Ougrée, Belgium.

Climbing career

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In 1986, she made, with husband at the time Jon Muir and friend Graeme Hill, the first ascent of the South West Pillar of Shivling in Northern India.[3]

In 1997, she became the first Australian woman to summit Mount Everest[3][4][5] and the first Australian, male or female, to climb the Seven Summits (the highest summit on each of the continents).[6]

In 1998, Penguin (Viking) published her autobiography, The Wind in My Hair.

In 2008, SBS broadcast The Eighth Summit, a documentary directed and produced by wife and husband team Anne and Wayne Tindall, and based on Brigitte’s life.[7]

After her career in mountaineering and adventure, Brigitte became a film maker[8] and an inspirational speaker.[9] She now leads community building treks in her beloved village of Lura in Eastern Nepal, where she started a women’s literacy and empowerment program.[10][11][12]

Awards and Citations

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  • Australian Geographic Society Spirit of Adventure Awards, 1997[13]
  • Australia Day Achievers Award 1998
  • Order of Australia Medal, for services to mountaineering, 2000[14]
  • Centenary Medal, For service to Australia through mountaineering, 2001[15]
  • First Victorian Honour Roll of Women, 2001

Bibliography

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  • Ross MacDowell, Inside Story. 20 Famous Australians Tell Their Story, Hobson Dell, Brighton,2001
  • Susan Geason, Australian Heroines, stories of courage and survival, ABC Books, Sydney, 2001
  • Martin Flanagan, Faces in the Crowd, One Day Hill, 2004
  • Everest. Reflections from the Top. Edited by Christine Gee, Garry Weare and Margaret Gee, Rider, 2003.

References

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  1. ^ Lily Portugaels. "La Liégeoise qui a conquis l'Everest". lalibre.be.
  2. ^ "EverestHistory.com: Brigitte Muir". Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. ^ a b Will Steffen (2010). Himalayan Dreaming: Australian Mountaineering in the Great Ranges of Asia, 1922-1990. ANU E Press. pp. 562–. ISBN 978-1-921666-16-2.
  4. ^ "At last our Brigitte is on top of the world". The Age, STEPHEN CAUCHI, 27/05/1997 via the SMH News Store
  5. ^ "theage.com.au - The Age".
  6. ^ "Civics | Brigitte Muir". Archived from the original on 1 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Conquering Everest". The Age.
  8. ^ "Brigitte Muir takes us 'behind the smile'". abc.net.au.
  9. ^ "Brigitte Muir OAM - The first Australian woman to climb Mt Everest and the first Australian to climb the Seven Summits - Saxton Speakers Bureau". Saxton Speakers Bureau.
  10. ^ "Alan Attwood, Anita Sethi and Brigitte Muir". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  11. ^ "I was there. Making it to the top of Everest". The Age.
  12. ^ "Business Beyond the Earthquake Trek". hdfa.org. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015.
  13. ^ "AG Society Spirit of Adventure Awards". Australian Geographic.
  14. ^ "It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours".
  15. ^ "It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours".

Other sources

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