MCAS Coolidge

William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge

Christian and Ulrich Almer, M. Brevoort , their nephew WAB Coolidge and the bitch Tschingel

William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge (born August 28, 1850 in New York , † May 8, 1926 in Grindelwald , Switzerland ) was a British citizen, Anglican theologian, historian and passionate mountaineer .

biography

In the last four decades of the 19th century he carried out numerous mountain trips in the Swiss , French and Italian western Alps , during which he often entrusted himself to the guidance of Christian Almer . Together with his aunt Margaret Claudia ("Meta") Brevoort , thanks to whom he came to mountaineering as a teenager, and with Christian and his son Ulrich Almer, in January 1874 he carried out the first winter ascent of the Jungfrau in the Bernese Oberland . Coolidge's dog Tschingel also took part in this winter ascent. Christian Almer gave the bitch to the young Coolidge as a consolation after a failure on the Eiger. The mongrel from the Lötschental subsequently undertook hundreds of hikes and 30 long tours with his master and his aunt in his dog's life, including eleven first ascents and was the only female honorary member of the Alpine Club at the time . Since Coolidge was often out and about in the mountains with his dog and aunt, he became known in his younger years as "the young American who climbs with his aunt and his dog".

In 1885, WAB Coolidge settled in Grindelwald and devoted himself to a rich journalistic activity which earned him many honors. In 1908 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern . Coolidge was the editor of the Alpine Journal.

The 3,774 meter high Pic Coolidge and the Couloir Coolidge (the southwest ice channel) on the 3,946 m high Mont Pelvoux in the Dauphiné Alps are named after WAB Coolidge .

literature

• Ronald W. Clark: To Eccentric in The Alps. The story of WAB Coolidge, the great Victorian Mountaineer . Museum Press, London 1959
• Ronald Clark: The Victorian Mountaineers . BT Batsford Ltd., London 1953

Web links

• Christoph Zürcher: William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Literature by and about WAB Coolidge in the catalog of the German National Library
• Collection of materials on WAB Coolidge. (PDF; 2.7 MB) Historical Alpine Archive of the Alpine Associations in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol, 2009, accessed on October 3, 2009 .