Henry Russell (explorer)

Russell's father was Thomas John Russell, who was feudal baron of Killough, County Down, and a relative of Charles Russell, later Baron Russell of Killowen. Thomas John Russell emigrated to France aged 22 to escape anti-Catholic discrimination in Ireland. He fought in the Papal Army in 1860 and was made a Papal Count in 1862. Henry was born in Toulouse to Thomas' second wife, Marie-Josephine-Aglaë-Ferdinande, daughter of the Marquis de Flamarens. Henry was educated in Ireland at Clongowes Wood College. Henry Russell undertook his first distant voyage at the age of 23, to North America. In 1858 he climbed Pic de Néouvielle in the Néouvielle massif from Barèges, as well as the Ardiden, and made three ascents of Monte Perdido. In 1859 he made his second voyage, which lasted three years. He travelled to Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Irkutsk and Beijing, crossing the Gobi Desert twice and descending the Amur River. He stayed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, then travelled on to Australia and New Zealand. He spent a year in India and returned to France by Cairo and Istanbul. ==Pyrenean exploration==

From 1861, Russell became devoted to the exploration of the Pyrenees. On his own or in the company of his guides, he made numerous first ascents, surviving financially on his personal fortune and his investments. He is especially known for his ascents of the Vignemale, which he climbed for the first time on 14 September 1861 with the guide Laurent Passet. In 1864 in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, together with Charles Packe, Farnham Maxwell-Lyte and Emilien Frossard, he formed a society devoted primarily to the scientific and ethnographic study of the Pyrenees: the Société Ramond (Ramond Society, named after the famous Pyrenean explorer, Louis Ramond de Carbonnières), still extant today. These caves lacked the grandeur of his higher perches, however, so for his seventh and final cave – Le Paradis – he had a spot 18 m below the summit of the Vignemale dynamited to effect a suitable dwelling. It was here, when he was sixty, that he celebrated the 'silver wedding' of his first ascent. He made his thirty-third and final ascent of the Vignemale on 8 August 1904. Pic Russell in the Maladeta massif is named after him; he made the first ascent in 1865. On his death in Biarritz in 1909 he was buried at the cemetery in Pau. ==First ascents==

, in 1895, photograph by Eugène Trutat The following is a selection of Russell's first ascents in the Pyrenees. Names of companions are given; otherwise the ascents were undertaken alone. • Pic d'Ardiden, 2988 m, 1858 • Lustou, 3023 m, 1864 • Pic Carlit, 2921 m, 1864 • Pic des Gourgs Blancs, 3129 m, with J. Haurillon, 1864 • Pico de Coronas, 3293 m, with a porter, 1864 • Cilindro de Marboré, 3,328 m, with Hippolyte Passet, 1864 • Pic Russell, 3205 m, with C. Packe, 1865 • Marboré, 3248 m, with Hippolyte Passet, 24 September 1865 • Pena del Infierno Ctl., 3082 m, with Sarettes, 20 June 1867 • Pico Royo, 3121 m, with Haurillon, 1868 • Pic d'Albe, 3107 m, with Haurillon, July 1868 • Grande Fache 3005 m, with Latour, August 1874 • Gabiétous Or., 3031 m, with C. Passet, September 1874 • Garmo Negro, 3051 m, with Sarettes, Pablo Belio, 23 June 1876 • Pic Occ. de la Cascade, 3095 m, with C. Passet 1877 • 2e Pic Occ. de la Maladeta, 3220 m, with C. Passet, 25 August 1877 • Eriste S, 3045 m, 17 July 1878 • Grand Eriste, 3053 m, with F. Barrau, 17 July 1878 • Robiñera, 3003 m, with C. Passet, 13 August 1878 • Punta del Sabre, 3136 m, with C. Passet, Vincent Grassy, 10 September 1878 • Petit Astazou 3012 m, with C. Passet, 21 July 1879 • Punta de Lliterola, 3132 m, with C. Passet, 30 July 1879 • Grand Quayrat, 3060 m, with Henri Reboul Peytier, Hossard C. Passet, 1 August 1879 • Tuca de Mulleres, 3010 m, with F. Barrau, B. Courrèges, 5 August 1879 • Pic d'Aragüells, 3037 m, with F. Barrau, 10 August 1880 • Pico del Medio, 3346 m, with Firmin Barrau, Célestin Passet, 12 July 1881 • Pic Occ. de Clarabide, 3020 m, 6 July 1882 • Pic Or. de Clarabide, 3012 m, with F. Barrau, C. Passet, 6 July 1882 • Diente de Alba, 3136 m, with Barthélémy Courrèges, 31 August 1882 • Grand Pic de Tapou, 3150 m, with Haurine, Pierre Pujo, 1 August 1883 • Pic du Milieu de Tapou, 3130 m, with Haurine, Pierre Pujo, 1 August 1883 • Pic des Pavots, 3121 m, with Pierre Barrau (fils), André Subra, 22 June 1885 ==References==