Józef Jerzy Kukuczka (Polish: [ˈju.zɛf ˈjɛ.ʐɨ kuˈkut͡ʂ.ka]; 24 March 1948 – 24 October 1989) was a Polish mountaineer who is widely regarded one of the greatest high-altitude climbers in history. In 1987, he became the second man (after Reinhold Messner) to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world; a feat which took him less than 8 years to accomplish. He climbed all, except Lhotse, by new routes or in winter. He is the only person to have climbed two eight-thousanders in one winter and his ascents of Cho Oyu, Kangchenjunga and Annapurna were first winter ascents. His ascent of K2 was made in alpine style with Tadeusz Piotrowski, that route (the so-called "Polish Line") has not had a second ascent in over 35 years.
Reinhold Messner, upon hearing that Kukuczka had completed all fourteen 8000ers, wrote to him: "you are not second you are great", a line which is reproduced as the epigraph of Kukuczka book and the Polish translation forms the title of a biography published in 2021. He died in 1989 while attempting to climb the south face of Lhotse.
Source : Wikipedia
