Tenzing Norgay

Early life and education

Quoted from Wikipedia: Tenzing Norgay (CC BY-SA 4.0); each sentence links the source Wikipedia cites for it. Checked 7 November 2026.

• According to many later accounts, including a book co-written by his son Jamling Tenzin Norgay, he was born in Tibet, at Tse Chu in the Kama Valley, and grew up in Thame, Nepal. National Geographic Society Thames Sherpa Fund
• Norgay went to Nepal as a child to work for a Sherpa family in Khumbu. The Observer Nepali Times The Telegraph, Calcutta sherpals.com
• Khumbu lies near Mount Everest, which the Tibetans and Sherpas call Chomolungma; in Standard Tibetan, that name means "Holy Mother", or the goddess of the summit. netflix.com
• Tenzing was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. "Tenzing Norgay" translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Tenzing ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later to Darjeeling, India (which at that time was the starting point for most expeditions in the eastern Himalayas), and eventually acquired Indian citizenship. The Times of India
• He was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to become a monk, but he decided that was not for him and left. Princeton University Press

Key decisions and achievements

• In 1938, after Norgay's third Everest expedition as a porter, the Himalayan Club awarded him its Tiger Medal for high-altitude work. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• He also received later that year, along with the rest of the Everest party, the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal, bearing the additional inscription 'Mount Everest Expedition'. official website of the British Royal Family The Guardian
• King Tribhuvan of Nepal awarded Norgay the distinction of Member 1st Class of the Order of the Star of Nepal (Supradipta‑Manyabara‑Nepal‑Tara) in 1953. Achievement.org
• In 1959, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of India. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
• Indian Mountaineering Foundation presented him with its gold medal. hmidarjeeling.com
• On 1 March 1963, Norgay was awarded the honorary title of "Merited Master of Sport of the USSR" by the Soviet Union, becoming the first foreigner to receive this distinction. Press Information Bureau, Government of India

Notable statements

• In May 2013, Norgay's grandson, Tashi Tenzing, said he believed his grandfather should have been knighted, not just given "a bloody medal". The Guardian 3 News NZ