Street in Lithuanian city named after Polish female alpinist

One of the streets in the northwestern Lithuanian city Plunge has been named after the Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz. The third woman in history to have conquered Mount Everest was born there on February 4, 1943.

"The street was named after Rutkiewicz following a motion by her relatives who live in Poland," Mantas Czesnauskas, adviser to the Mayor of Plunge told PAP on Monday. He added that "this is a well-known Polish alpinist and the residents of this street have agreed to have its name changed". The famous climber was born in a house that used to stand on this street

In 1944, in the face of the approaching Red Army, Rutkiewicz's family moved to Poland and settled in Wrocław, south-western Poland.

Wanda Rutkiewicz was one of the greatest climbers in the world. As the third woman in history, and the first Pole she scaled Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth, and the first woman to successfully summit K2. She went missing in the Himalayas in May 1992 during an attempt to scale Kangchenjunga. Her body has not yet been found.