| Geert Adriaans Boomgaard | |
 Geert Adriaans Boomgaard at the age of 110. | |
| Birth: | 21 September 1788 Groningen, Netherlands |
| Death: | 3 February 1899 Groningen, Netherlands |
| Age: | 110 years, 135 days |
| Country: |  NED
|
| Validated | |
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard (21 September 1788 – 3 February 1899) was a Dutch supercentenarian who is accepted by most demographic scholars as the first verified supercentenarian on record. His age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Life
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard was born in Groningen, Netherlands on 21 September 1788. His father was a boat captain, and civil records show he followed the same career, yet only after he had returned from his position as a soldier in the 33rd Light Infantry Regiment in Napoleon's Grande Armée, he had even fought for Napoleon in Russia. On 4 March 1818, aged 29, Boomgaard married Stijntje Bus, who died on 24 March 1830 at age 33 a month after their eighth child had been born. Almost a year later, on 21 March 1831, Boomgaard married Grietje Abels Jonker and had 4 more children. Grietje died on 18 May 1864 at the age of 71. Boomgaard outlived all of his twelve children; his last surviving child, Jansje Hinderika, died in May 1885 at the age of 57.
Towards the end of his life, Boomgaard became well-known for his age; the portraits made on the occasion of his 100th and 107th birthdays were popular throughout the country; even Princess Emma, Queen Regent at the time, had received a copy of one of the portraits.
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard died in Groningen, Netherlands on 3 February 1899 at the age of 110 years, 135 days. His record-setting age was surpassed by Margaret Ann Neve of the United Kingdom on 30 September 1902; his record as the oldest verified man ever was surpassed 60 years later, on 21 February 1960, by Robert Early of the United States.
Gallery
Trivia
- Apparently, Geert Adriaans Boomgaard moved houses a lot in his adult life; his children's birth certificates note no fewer than five different addresses where he lived.
- Mr. Boomgaard was quite the stubborn man; while living in the "Jacob en Anna Gasthuis" (a retirement home for the elderly), he once was not happy with the food he received there - rice, imported from the then Dutch colony Indonesia. When Mr. Boomgaard got his way and received potatoes, yet still complained about those, he was reprimanded for his behaviour, despite being well in his 90s.
References
- List of validated supercentenarians (listed chronologically by date of birth) Gerontology Research Group
- NOORDER RONDBLIK Geert A. Boomgaard uit Groningen werd het oudst van alle Nederlanders Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 3 April 1982
- Geert Adriaans Boomgaard, the First Supercentenarian in History ResearchGate, 21 January 2021