Peter Aufschnaiter

Peter Aufschnaiter (2 November 1899 - 19 October 1973) was an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, geographer and cartographer.

Life

Born in Kitzbühel [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12938878 Peter Aufschnaiter (1899 - 1973) - Find A Grave Memorial ] ] , Austria, he went to high school in Kufstein. During his school education he was drafted into military service in the First World War in 1917. After he finished his final exams in 1919 he went to Munich, Germany to study agriculture.

In his early years he began climbing and later, in Munich, he became acquainted with several German alpinists of the time. He took part in expeditions to the Kangchenjunga (1929 and 1931) [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12938878 Peter Aufschnaiter (1899 - 1973) - Find A Grave Memorial ] ] and later lead the expedition to Nanga Parbat. Among the Nanga Parbat expedition was Heinrich Harrer, with whom he escaped, in April 1944 from a British internment camp. He reached Tibet with Harrer months later after an arduous crossing of the Himalayas. He would stay in Tibet for seven years until Tibet was invaded by China's PLA causing them to flee.

During his time in Tibet, Aufschnaiter played an important role as a geographer and cartographer for the Tibetan government and volunteered to map out numerous places throughout Tibet which had never been accurately drawn up. Aufschnaiter helped the Tibetan city of Lhasa plan a hydroelectric power plant and a system of canals. His extensive work is well documented in a book by Heinrich Harrer, "Seven Years in Tibet". His own book "" includes many of his own photographs and sketches.

After leaving Tibet, he arrived in Nepal in 1952 where he worked as a cartographer and then in New Delhi for the Indian Army. He eventually obtained a Nepalese passport which allowed him access to many restricted remote areas and he discovered valuable early Buddhist frescos. Aufschnaiter spent most of his remaining years in Nepal, working as an agricultural engineer. At first he worked for Swiss Technical Aid [ [http://www.harrerportfolio.com/Peter.html Peter Aufschnaiter ] ] . From 1956 on he held a position as an agriculture expert for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Every three years he went on leave to Europe, where he and Heinrich Harrer went mountaineering together.

He returned to Austria much later in life and died in Innsbruck in 1973 at the age of 73 [ [http://www.harrerportfolio.com/Peter.html Peter Aufschnaiter ] ] . He is buried at Kitzbüheler Bergfriedhof Kitzbühel Tirol, Austria.

Peter Aufschnaiter was portrayed by English actor David Thewlis in the 1997 film "Seven Years in Tibet".

References

ee also

*Heinrich Harrer
*List of Austrian mountaineers
*List of Austrians
*Seven Years in Tibet