Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944) is a mountaineer, adventurer, explorer, and author from the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol.
He is renowned for making the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen along with Peter Habeler, and for being the first climber to ascend all fourteen “eight-thousanders” (peaks over 26,000 ft above sea level) on May 8, 1978. He is the author of at least 63 books, many of which have been translated into other languages.