15 Facts About Michel Peissel

Michel Georges Francois Peissel was a French ethnologist, explorer and author.

Michel Peissel wrote twenty books mostly on his Himalayan and Tibetan expeditions.

Michel Peissel was the son of a French diplomat, raised in England after his father was posted to London, and able to speak English from early childhood.

Michel Peissel later became fluent in several languages, including Tibetan.

Michel Peissel studied for a year at Oxford University and the Harvard Business School and obtained a doctorate in Tibetan Ethnology from the Sorbonne, Paris.

Michel Peissel left the Harvard Business School after a year, deciding to study ethnology and explore the last unknown regions of Tibet and the Himalayas.

In 1959, Michel Peissel organised his first Himalayan expedition out of Harvard to study the Sherpas of the Everest district.

Michel Peissel's written account of the expedition, Mustang: A Lost Tibetan Kingdom, was published in 1967 and became an international best seller.

Michel Peissel then made the first detailed study of the Kingdom of Zanskar in Kashmir, later studying the Minaro of Baltistan and Ladakh, while attempting to locate precisely the "land of the gold digging ants" of Herodotus.

Michel Peissel enjoyed saying he had "pioneered the sport of shooting up rapids".

Ten years later, a Sino-Japanese expedition proved that the geographical source lies at the headwaters of the white Mekong, Dza Kar, which satellite photos show to be 4500 meters longer than what Michel Peissel called the historical branch.

In 1987, with Mexican archeologists, Michel Peissel built a giant seagoing Mayan dugout canoe and paddled and sailed 500 miles down the Yucatan and Belize coasts to demonstrate the role of maritime commerce by the Chontal Itzas in the 10th century collapse of the Mayan lowland cities.

Michel Peissel produced, directed or initiated 22 documentary films on his expeditions, including a four-part series in 1980 by the BBC on "Zanskar, the Last Place on Earth" and a Smithsonian exploration special for the Arts and Entertainment Channel on the source of the Mekong.

Michel Peissel was married first to Marie-Claire de Montaignac, with whom he had two sons, then to Missy Allen, with whom he had a daughter and a son.

Michel Peissel was married to Roselyne Le Bris with whom he had a son.