was it a man or a woman?

You would think it was a woman by the way things look lol. But they could be worse so it could have been a guy. Who knows lol

They used to tie harnesses called a swiss seat out of hemp rope

In the early days, one just tied a rope around your waist and went for it.

Climbing harnesses were most probably created by men. Since most early climbers were men, l would hazard a guess at someone of the male persuasion.

My first guess would be a man that brought the ''harness'' into the climbing world. If l can remember the history from my perspectives. It was popular to only use a bowline to tie into an end of hemp rope when ''men'' took to the mountains. Women came along shortly after, & believe it or not climbed in skirts. There is a great book, ''The History of Rock & Ice'' l think the answer is there too. You will find the expression ''The leader never falls'' because of the way he tied in. Also u will notice that after a woman climbed a summit only climbed by men, then there was little or no drive for a man to climb it again.

After WWI l & the advent of Nylon everyone used a swami belt made from military webbing. It was not until the 60 is when u started to see adaptations of the swami belt which then evolved into the modern day harness & it was not until the late eighties where u actually saw harnesses designed for female climbers.

Because of those early days & the role of women in product development I'd say it was a mans product. But l will bet a ton of women sewed them.

no individual invented it. well they may have invented specific models but not the whole concept..
people just used to use ropes round their waists. it is probably men who got recognised for the amazing developments in climbing equipment. they get all the glory :P

l was using a knoted length of flat tubular one inch nylon called
Banana Loop in 1964, prusik knot slings, and Roloff Rappel Bar
( l am still using latter). l personally credit Royal Robbins but are
biased. l met a lot of women in speleology who were equal
to men using same climbing equipment.

It was not just one person. Wayner is correct that they used to tie the rope around the waist - it was uncomfortable and painful in a fall. So people started using a ''diaper'' webbing which is wider to spread the pressure - this evolved into the swami harness and eventually the sewn waist / leg loop harnesses of today.

Good Luck