Karl Prusik

Personal information
Nationality	Austrian
Born	(1896-05-19)19 May 1896
Died	8 May 1961(1961-05-08) (aged 64)

Karl Prusik (1896–1961) was an Austrian mountaineer. Prusik served twice as President of the Austrian Alpine Club (AAC) and is credited with establishing over 70 ascents and routes.^{[citation needed]} He is also recognised as the inventor of the Prusik knot (sometimes misspelled as Prussic).^[1]

Prusik was born on 19 May 1896 in Vienna, Austria. After the Anschluss, Prusik was a supporter of the then Nazi German Alpine Club (German: Deutscher Alpenverein) led by Arthur Seuss-Inquart. In 1941, at the age of 45, Prusik was called to serve as a lieutenant in the Nazi German Wehrmacht. In 1942, he was promoted to captain and received the War Merit Cross, 2nd class, for operations behind the Nazi front.^{[citation needed]}

In 1947, Prusik became the first Vice President of the Österreichischer Alpenklub (ÖAK.). Prusik Peak in the Cascade Range of Washington state is named in honour of Karl Prusik.^[2] Also, a route in the Slovenian Alps was named after Karl Prusik and his climbing partner, Roman Szalay.^[3] He died on 8 May 1961 in Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, at the age of 64.