Christian Mortensen
Christian Mortensen | |
---|---|
![]() Drawing of Christian Mortensen | |
Born | Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen August 16, 1882 Skårup, Denmark |
Died | (aged 115 years, 252 days) San Rafael, California, U.S. | April 25, 1998
Known for |
|
Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen (August 16, 1882 – April 25, 1998), known as Christian Mortensen, was a Danish supercentenarian who resided in California, United States.[1] When he died, his age of 115 years and 252 days was the longest verified male lifespan at the time, until Jiroemon Kimura surpassed him in 2012.[2] Mortensen was baptized in Fruering Church on December 26, 1882.[3] Besides his baptismal record, other records include the 1890 and 1901 census enumerations in Denmark, and church confirmation in 1896.[2]
Biography
Christian Mortensen was born to tailor Jens Karl Martinus Mortensen and his wife Maren Therkelsen Thybo in the village of Skårup in Fruering parish near the city of Skanderborg, Denmark, on August 16, 1882. He began work as a tailor's apprentice in Skanderborg at age 16, in 1898, and later took work as a farmhand.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Christian_Mortensen_birth_record.png/150px-Christian_Mortensen_birth_record.png)
Mortensen emigrated to
He was married for less than ten years, divorced and had no children. He did not remarry.[2]
In 1950, Mortensen retired near
Mortensen was visited by American scientist James Vaupel and other longevity researchers on the occasion of his 113th birthday. He was particularly pleased with a box of Danish cigars that the researchers had brought him.[4] Mortensen was completely blind towards the end of his life and spent much of his time in bed sleeping or in a wheelchair listening to the radio.[2] He showed no signs of major degenerative disease or dementia.[2] His memory and reasoning were described as largely intact. He could walk only with assistance.[2]
Lifestyle
Mortensen enjoyed cigars in moderation and drank lots of water.[5] He led a simple and solitary life.[5] He avoided red meat but was not a vegetarian.[6][7] On his 115th birthday, Mortensen gave his advice for a long life: "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time."[5]
See also
- Oldest people
- List of the oldest people by country
- List of the verified oldest people
- List of supercentenarians in the Nordic countries
- List of Danish supercentenarians
- Shigechiyo Izumi, once believed verified to have reached age 120
References
- ^ "Christian Mortensen, 115, Among Oldest". The New York Times. 1998. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023.
- ^ PMID 8990590.
- Skanderborg municipality.
- ISBN 978-3-642-11519-6.
- ^ a b c Wilmoth, John (1998). "Christian Mortensen, 1882-1998". Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010.
- ^ "Bay Area Report -- North Bay / Oldest Man's Birthday Better Than Last Year's". SFGATE. 1996.
- ^ "The world's oldest folk. What do they know that we don't?". Observer. August 10, 1997.
External links
- Obituaries: Dagbladet (in Norwegian) and Aftonbladet (in Swedish)