Leila Esfandyari
{{Short description|Iranian mountain climber (1971–2011)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leila Esfandyari
| image =
| caption =
| other_names = Leyla Esfandiari Kajoori Rad
| birth_date = {{birth-date|February 16, 1971}}
| birth_place = Karaj, Pahlavi Iran (now Iran)
| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|7|22|1971|2|17}}
| death_place = Gasherbrum II, Pakistan
| education =
| occupation = Climber
| title =
| parents =
| children =
| nationality = Iranian
| website =
}}
Leila Esfandyari ({{langx|fa|لیلا اسفندیاری}}; February 16, 1971 – July 22, 2011) was an Iranian mountaineer.{{Cite web |title=Summits by Iranian and a fatal accident on GII |url=http://www.alpineclub.ir/en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011080657/http://alpineclub.ir/en/node/836 |archive-date=October 11, 2011 |accessdate= |website=Alpine Club of Iran |publisher=IMZ News Department |language=fa}} Esfandyari was the first Iranian woman to scale the summit of Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas, the world’s ninth highest peak with an altitude of 8,125 metres and one of the deadliest peaks.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} Esfandyari is regarded as a pioneer in the women’s mountain climbing movement, being one of the few women in the world to have completed a similar attempt.{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-south-asian.com/jan%202004/women_climberseverest.htm|title=Women climbers-Everest-Nanga Parbat-K2|accessdate=Mar 3, 2023}}{{cite web | url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php | title=Explorersweb }}{{Cite web |title=هنر نیوز - ماجرای عجیب فتح دومین کوه خشن دنیا |trans-title=The strange story of conquering the world's second most difficult mountain |url=https://honarnews.com/vdcc0eqe.2bqse8laa2.html |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Honarnews |language=fa}}
Education and career
Leila Esfandyari was born on February 16, 1971, in Karaj, Pahlavi Iran (now Iran). She was raised and educated in Tehran, Iran, receiving a bachelor's degree in microbiology. She worked as a microbiologist in a Tehran hospital before she left her job to climb K2 in the Himalayas in 2010.{{Cite web |date=July 25, 2011 |title=In Memory of Leila Esfandyari |url=https://www.jadidonline.com/story/25072011/frnk/leila_esfandyari_climber_eng |accessdate=Mar 3, 2023 |website=Jadid Online}}{{cite web |date=July 2011 |title=لیلا اسفندیاری شیرزن یگانه ی کوه نوردی ایران به هیمالیا پیوست |trans-title=Leila Esfandiari, Iran's only mountaineer, joins the Himalayas |url=http://damavandclub.com/post/detail.aspx?id=3-1-1-1-149-Fa |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814063346/http://damavandclub.com/post/detail.aspx?id=3-1-1-1-149-Fa |archivedate=2011-08-14 |accessdate=2012-12-05 |website=Damavand Club |language=fa}}
Death
On July 22, 2011, she completed the ascent to Gasherbrum II, one of the highest peaks in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas. Minutes after, on the way down, her foot slipped on the ice and she fell 300 meters down the mountain. In accordance with her wishes, her body has remained on the Gasherbrum II mountain.{{Cite news |last=رستم‌پور |first=مهدی |date=2013-07-25 |title=مرگ نخبگان کوهنوردی، از جلال رابوکی تا آيدين بزرگی |trans-title=The Death of Mountaineering Elites, from Jalal Rabuki to Aydin Bozorgy |url=https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f8-iranian-climbers-tradedy/25057017.html |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=رادیو فردا |language=fa}}
A statue was erected in her memory in the Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery in Tehran.{{Cite web |date=2011-07-26 |title=تندیس لیلا اسفندیاری درقطعه نام آوران نصب می شود |trans-title=Leila Esfandiari's statue to be installed in the Nam Avaran area |url=https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/164517/%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%B3-%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%86%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B9%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A2%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A8-%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%AF |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=خبرآنلاین |language=fa}}
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Esfandyari, Leila}}
Category:21st-century Iranian sportswomen
Category:Deaths on Gasherbrum II
Category:Iranian female climbers
Category:Iranian mountain climbers
Category:Mountaineering deaths