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The peoples of both Nepal and New Zealand mourned the passing today of Sir Edmund Hillary, the mountaineer who brought them together with the conquest of Everest in 1953.

Sir Edmund, who died of a heart attack in Auckland Hospital at the age of 88, was hailed as one of the great 20th century adventurers, of a rank with Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian who led the first successful expedition to the South Pole 40 years earlier.

His death was announced by Helen Clark, the New Zealand Prime Minister, who called him a "quintessential Kiwi" and "the best-known New Zealand ever to have lived". The mountaineer is to be given a state funeral, although no date has yet been set.

“Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus,” Ms Clark said. “He was an heroic figure who not only ’knocked off’ Everest but lived a life of determination, humility and generosity."

The lanky, plain-speaking Hillary, an "average beekeeper", made history on May 29, 1953, when he and his Nepalese guide, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, scaled the world's highest peak. It was not until after Tenzing's death in 1986 that Sir Edmund admitted that he had been the first to the top - before then they had always insisted that they climbed it together.

It was a feat that had defied mountaineers for decades but as he came back down the mountain the ever-laconic Hillary lifted his mask and uttered what would become one of the most famous phrases in the annals of climbing, telling a fellow expedition member: “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off."

News of their achievement broke on June 2, the day of the Queen's coronation, and he was awarded a knighthood the following month. “I could see myself... in my tattered overalls and the seat out of my pants,” he said later. “And I thought, ’That’s gone forever. I’ll have to buy a new pair of overalls now.’"

The Queen, who met Sir Edmund many times over the years, was said today to be "saddened" by his death. Buckingham Palace said that she would be sending a private message of condolence to the climber's widow and family.

The conquest provided a worldwide scoop for The Times, whose young correspondent, James - later Jan - Morris was the only reporter to accompany the British-led expedition.

"Ten previous expeditions have learnt their lessons of Everest; at least 16 men have died in the learning," Morris wrote in a report that battled for space with news of the new monarch.

"Today, high above the rugged Nuptse ridge, Everest looks as surly, as muscular, as unattainable as ever; but after 30 years of endeavour the greatest of mountains is defeated, and many are the ghosts and men far off who share in the triumph."

Tributes poured in today for Sir Edmund. Gordon Brown hailed him as “a truly great hero who captured the imagination of the world".

“It’s still really amazing that he was the first person to reach the summit,” said Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a Japanese climber who at the age of 71 last became the oldest person to climb Mount Everest. “Unlike myself among many others, who climb an already beaten path, he climbed with no clue what was ahead of him.”

In Nepal, where Sir Edmund was granted honorary citizenship in 2003 on the golden jubilee of his greatest climb, members of the mountaineering community mourned his passing.

“He was a hero and a leader for us. He did a lot for the people of the Everest region and will always remain in our hearts,” said Bhoomi Lama of the Nepal Mountaineering Association in Katmandu.

Known by the Nepalese as 'burra sahib' - he was 6ft 5in tall - Hillary spent decades pouring energy and resources from his own fundraising efforts into Nepal through the Himalayan Trust he founded in 1982. Through that foundation he helped build hospitals, health clinics, airfields and schools, and raised funds for higher education for Sherpa families.

Sir Edmund's Nepali Sherpa friends lit butter lamps and offered special Buddhist prayers in monasteries for the mountaineer, calling him a great philanthropist and friend of Nepal.

The Nepali Government said that the loss was “irreparable”. “We are very sad over the death of a person who made immense contributions to the social and economic development of Nepal,” said Prithvi Subba Gurung, the Tourism Minister.

“He has done so much for us. If he is incarnated he can again continue to do good work for the human beings,” said Ang Rita, a devout Buddhist and the first graduate of the first of 26 schools opened by Sir Edmund in the country.

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