| Christian Mortensen | |
 Christian Mortensen at the age of 114. | |
| Birth: | 16 August 1882 Skårup, Skanderborg, Denmark |
| Death: | 25 April 1998 San Rafael, California, USA |
| Age: | 115 years, 252 days |
| Country: |  DEN USA
|
| Validated | |
Christian Mortensen (16 August 1882 – 25 April 1998) was a Danish-American supercentenarian who was the oldest validated man in recorded history at the time of his death. At the final age of 115 years, 252 days, Mortensen's longevity record stood for close to 15 years before being surpassed in age by Jiroemon Kimura of Japan in December 2012. Born in Denmark, Mortensen's extreme age makes him a noticeable outlier even among other Scandinavian supercentenarians; he remains the only Nordic-born person ever known to have lived past their 113th birthday, with the second-oldest from this region, Astrid Zachrison from Sweden, dying on the exact date of her 113th birthday. He was also the only Danish born man to reach supercentenarian status for nearly 32 years, until Jens Peter Westergaard became a supercentenarian on 26 April 2024. He was also the first man to have undisputedly reached the ages of 114 and 115. Due to the fact that he moved from his native Denmark to the United States in his early 20s, he was the oldest known emigrant until Italian-American woman Dina Manfredini narrowly outlived him by just 5 days in December 2012, only 2 weeks before Jiroemon Kimura would break his male longevity record.
Biography
Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen was born in Skaarup, Skanderborg, Denmark, on 16 August 1882, to Jens Carl Martinus Mortensen and Maren Therkildsen Thyboe. The youngest of six siblings, he was baptized in Fruering Church on 26 December 1882.[1] Besides his baptismal record, other records include the 1890 and 1901 census enumerations in Denmark, and church confirmation in 1896.
In 1903, he migrated to the United States, and lived in various areas and worked in various trades including as a milkman and in a can factory. In Denmark, Mortensen had worked as a farmhand and apprenticed as a tailor. He apparently was married though only briefly and never had children. Mortensen enjoyed an occasional cigar, and, very unusually for a supercentenarian, was known to show a bit of feistiness even in his final years. In August 1997, for instance, he expected to get the Guinness "oldest person" title, but on 14 August 1997, Guinness named Marie-Louise Meilleur of Canada, age 116, the "world's oldest person". Mortensen, angered, said they "just did that to spoil my birthday" (he turned 115 only two days after). Later, however, when he found out that fellow American Sarah Knauss was older too (116 as well), he said "c'est la vie". Mortensen could have been given the title of "oldest living man", however, but Guinness did not officially implement that category until mid-2000.
In 1978, he rode his tricycle to the Aldersly Retirement Community in San Rafael, boldly telling the staff that he was Danish, and that he was there to stay. Mortensen lived there for his final 20 years.[2][3][4]
Longevity Records
On 5 June 1993, Mortensen became the last man born in 1882, after the death of Peter Solum aged of 111.
On 14 June 1993, he became the oldest living man in the United States, after the death of Frederick Frazier aged of 113.
On 20 January 1994, Mortensen became the oldest validated living man in the world, after the of the Spanish man Josep Armengol-Jover aged of 112.
On 27 August 1994, he became the last man born before 1884, after the death of Charles Shebanek (born in 1883) dead just 13 days before her 111th birthday.
On 16 August 1995, Mortensen celebrated his 113th birthday becoming the second man in the history to reach this age (after Frazier in 1993).
On 2 January 1996, Mortensen surpassed the age of Frazier to become the oldest validated man ever.
On 16 August 1996, he celebrated his 114th birthday becoming the first man to reach this age in the history.
On 4 August 1997, Mortensen become the oldest living European-born person after the death of the French woman Jeanne Calment aged of 122.
On 16 August 1997, he celebrated his 115th birthday becoming the first man to reach this age and the 12th person in the history to do that.
On 4 November 1997, Mortensen surpassed the age Augusta Holtz to become the oldest emigrant ever recorded.
On 9 December 1997, Mortensen became (with others) one of the last five survivor born before 1884, after the death of the British woman Lucy Askew (born in 1883).
On 19 January 1998, he became the last American born in 1882, and the second-oldest living person in the United States (behind Sarah Knauss) after the death of Maggie Barnes aged of 115.
On 3 March 1998, Mortensen became the last survivor born in 1882, the third-oldest living person in the world (behind Marie-Louise Meilleur and Sarah Knauss), after the death of the Canadian Mary Ann Rhodes only 4 days older than him.
On 16 April 1998, Mortensen became the second-oldest living person in the world, after the death of the Canadian woman Marie-Louise Meilleur aged of 117.
He died 9 days later on 25 April 1998, at the age 115 years and 252 days. At the time of his death Mortensen was the second-oldest living person in the USA and in the world, behind Sarah Knauss, 117-years-old, who who outlived him by more 1 year. He was also the oldest man ever and the oldest emigrant ever at the time of his death. Coincidentally he lost this 2 records in the same period (in December 2012) because the Italian-American Dina Manfredini surpassed his age on 13 December 2012 (Manfredini died only 4 days after) and the Japanese man Jiroemon Kimura surpassed his age on 28 December 2012. He remains the oldest person ever born in Denmark, the oldest European-born man ever and the oldest man ever to die in the United States. He was the last survivor born in 1882 and the last man born before 1884. He was also the oldest person to ever die in the U.S. state of California, until his age was later surpassed by Edie Ceccarelli on 16 October 2023.
After his death, Walter Richardson became the oldest living man in the USA and in the world.
Gallery
References
- Christian Mortensen, 115 Photo Gallery. Gerontology Research Group
- Churchbook 1878 - 1892 Fruering, Ny udgave / Page No. 20, #14, Danish Family Search
• Same (colour scans by Ancestry) Arkivalieronline
- ↑ Christian Mortensen's birth record (see Churchbook above) shows his birthplace as the village of Skaarup, Denmark, which was located in Fruering Parish, Hjelmslev Hundred, Skanderborg County, which is now part of Skanderborg municipality.
- ↑ Torri Minton, San Francisco Chronicle, "One of World's Oldest Dies in His Sleep", page A-18, 1998-04-28. Accessed 2007-02-16
- ↑ John Wilmoth, Christian Mortensen, 1882-1998. Accessed 2007-02-16
- ↑ Karyn Hunt, San Francisco Examiner, "Guinness book checking after death of woman, 112", page A-5, 1997-08-05
- Scandinavian obituaries: Sigarelsker døde - 115 år gammel Dagbladet
and Christian Mortensen blev 115 år Aftonbladet
External links
| California's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
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Fannie Thomas • Mary Phil Cota • Walter Wilcox • Gregory Pandazes • Mary McKinney • Bertha Blair • Unknown • Zoe Hiehle • Katherine Jones • Amy Harris • Miriam Carpelan • Christian Mortensen • Frances Johns • Clara Huhn • Adelina Domingues • Mary Christian • Emma Taylor • Elma Corning • Margaret Russell • Marion Higgins • Gertrude Baines • Soledad Mexia • Opal Thompson • Dominga Velasco • Florence Boggs • Clarence Matthews • Minnie Whicker • Lucy Mirigian • Mila Mangold • Edie Ceccarelli • Ilse Meingast |