Leila Esfandyari

Leila Esfandyari (February 16, 1971, in Karaj, Iran – July 22, 2011, Gasherbrum II, Pakistan) was an Iranian mountaineer. 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. 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.

Education and career
Esfandyari was brought up 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.

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. She had said once before that: "If I fall, let me remain where I am." In accordance with her wishes, her body has remained on Gasherbrum II.