Grietje Jansen-Anker | |
Birth: | 12 September 1897 Vlissingen, Netherlands |
Death: | 13 October 2009 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
Age: | 112 years, 31 days |
Country: | NED |
Validated |
Greta (Grietje) Jansen-Anker (12 September 1897 – 13 October 2009)[1][2][3] was a Dutch supercentenarian. She was the oldest person in the Netherlands between 19 May 2006 and her death on 13 October 2009, at age 112 years, 31 days. She inherited the title after the death of 111-year-old Alexandrina van Donkelaar-Vink of Utrecht. She was also the third-oldest person ever from the Netherlands at the time of her death.
Biography
Greta Jansen-Anker was born in the harbour town of Vlissingen in the southwestern part of the Netherlands and lived much of her life in nearby Middelburg. During her marriage she lived in 's-Gravenzande, a town close to Den Haag (The Hague) and Rotterdam. Only at the age of 102, when she moved to an assisted care facility, did she return to her native province of Zeeland. Almost ten years later, Jansen-Anker moved to Rotterdam (in Zuid-Holland) at the age of 111. About her age, Jansen-Anker had remarked that she did not esteem it special in any sense, and therefore wished to be left alone on special occasions such as her birthday. As such, mayors and province deputees were not welcome to attend her birthday, and she had a contract made forbidding her nursing home from contacting the media to talk about her high age.[4] This explains why there are no known photographs of Jansen-Anker publicly available.
Despite disliking to talk about her age, she still enjoyed life by saying in a 2006 interview (which was the only time she talked to the media): I enjoy living. I would miss myself if I weren't around here anymore. Having moved to Rotterdam to live in the same nursing facility as her daughter, Jansen-Anker would still enjoy life for about one year until her health began to deteriorate; she would die in Rotterdam on 13 October 2009. After Jansen-Anker's death at the age of 112, 107-year-old Bertha van Hasselt became the oldest person in the Netherlands, dying only three days later.[5][6]
She is currently the fifth-oldest validated person ever from the Netherlands, behind Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, Geertje Kuijntjes, Anne Brasz-Later, and Catharina van Dam-Groeneveld.
References
- ↑ Verified Supercentenarians (Listed Chronologically By Birth Date) Gerontology Research Group
- ↑ The Netherlands’ oldest resident dies DutchNews.nl. 15 October 2009
- ↑ Holland’s oldest resident turns 112 DutchNews.nl. 11 September 2009
- ↑ Grietje Jansen-Anker overleden Omroep Zeeland, 15 October 2009
- ↑ Oudste Nederlandse (112) overleden Provenciale Zeeuwse Courant, 16 October 2009
- ↑ Greta Jansen-Anker was laatste uit 19de eeuw de Volkskrant. 16 October 2009