W. A. B. Coolidge

W. A. B. Coolidge (August 28, 1850 – May 8, 1926), full name William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge, was an American historian, theologian and mountaineer.

Coolidge was born in New York as the son of Frederic William Skinner, a Boston merchant, and Elisabeth Neville "nee" Brevoort of the Netherlands.

Coolidge studied history and law at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and at Exeter College, Oxford.

In 1875 he became a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. From 1880 to 1881 he was professor of British history at Saint David's College in Lampeter and in 1883 he became a priest of the Anglican church.

Coolidge was one of the great figures of the so-called silver age of alpinism, making first ascents of the few significant peaks in the Alps that hadn't been climbed during the golden age of alpinism.

In 1885 he moved to Grindelwald, Switzerland, where he died in 1926.

First ascents in the Alps

*Piz Badile, 27 July 1867, with F. and H. Dévouassoud
*Ailefroide, 7 July 1870, with Christian Almer and Ulrich Almer
*Central peak of La Meije, 1870, with Meta Brevoort and three guides
*Unterbächhorn, 1872
*First winter ascent of the Jungfrau, January 1874, with Christian and Ulrich Almer
*West summit of Les Droites, 16 July 1876, with Christian and Ulrich Almer
*Pic Coolidge, July 1877 with Christian and Ulrich Almer
*Les Bans, July 14 1878, with Christian and Ulrich Almer
*Scherbadung, 1886

References

* Ronald W. Clark: "An Eccentric in the Alps: The story of W. A. B. Coolidge, the Great Victorian Mountaineer". Museum Press, London 1959

External links

*worldcat id|lccn-n89-671101

Persondata
NAME=Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Coolidge, W. A. B.
SHORT DESCRIPTION=British historian, theologist, and mountaineer
DATE OF BIRTH=August 28, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH=New York
DATE OF DEATH=May 8, 1926
PLACE OF DEATH=Grindelwald, Switzerland