| Johanna Booysen | |
 | |
| Birth: | 17 January 1857?/ 17 January 1867 Heidelberg, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Death: | 16 June 1968 Belfast, Transvaal, South Africa |
| Age: | 111 years, 151 days?/ 101 years, 151 days |
| Country: |  ZAF
|
| Disputed | |
Johanna Maria Booysen (née Drotskie; 17 January 1857? – 16 June 1968) was an unvalidated South African supercentenarian claimant who claimed to be the oldest living person in the world at the time of her death.
Biography
Johanna Booysen claimed to be born as Johanna Maria Drotskie/Drodsky in Heidelberg, Gauteng, South Africa on 17 January 1857 (more likely 1867). In her earlier years, she worked as a district nurse. She married at 16 and had the first of her 16 children at the age of 18. Having been married twice in her lifetime, at the time of her death, she was reported to have nearly 1,000 descendants including at least 600 living descendants. She outlived her two husbands and 11 of her children.
As a centenarian she spent most of her time making sheepskin mats. On her claimed 111th birthday, she was still able to read without glasses. She did not smoke or drink and thought that modern mini dresses "displeased God".
Johanna Booysen passed away in Belfast, Transvaal, South Africa on 16 June 1968. At the time of her death at the age of 111 years, 151 days, she was the oldest verified living person. She is also the oldest verified South African person ever. On January 17, 1967, she became the first verified African supercentenarian. On March 21, 1968 she became the oldest verified person in the world, following the death of John Mosley Turner. Her African longevity record was broken by Julia Sinedia-Cazour in 2003, but she remains the oldest verified person ever from South Africa. Johanna Booysen remains the only validated supercentenarian in South Africa, as well as in the entire continental Africa, as of the present day.
Age Issue
Her age has never been officially validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG), however, she was previously recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in the world at the time of death, because the Guinness Book of Records for one time did not verify supercentenarians at basis of documentation. It is believed that her case could be challenged using the modern standard of validation.
References
- Guinness Book of Records 1970
- Johanna Maria Magdalena Booysen (Drotschie) Geni
- Tombstone
- Newspaper Article : Pinch of snuff for Ouma, 111 (Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3)