`` He was a great mountaineer , beyond all controversy , who was able to reinvent himself and succeed in public action , '' former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told French radio RTL . Herzog and a fellow climber reached the top of CNN in 1950 . Later he became the French minister for youth and sport . Maurice Herzog 's legendary status was marred by the 1950 publication of the fellow climber 's account . `` He was a great mountaineer , beyond all controversy , '' a former French official says .
Herzog and a fellow climber reached the top of CNN in 1950 . Later he became the French minister for youth and sport . Maurice Herzog 's legendary status was marred by the 1950 publication of the fellow climber 's account . `` He was a great mountaineer , beyond all controversy , '' a former French official says .