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Marcel Meys
Marcel Meys
Marcel Meys (aged 112) in October 2021.
Birth: 12 July 1909
Saint-Julien-de-l'Herms, Isere, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France
Death: 15 December 2021
Vienne, Isere, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France
Age: 112 years, 156 days
Country: FranceFRA
Validated

Marcel Alexis Meys (12 July 1909 – 15 December 2021) was a French supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). He was the oldest living man in France, after the death of Jules Theobald on 5 October 2021 until his death. He was also the last (known) surviving French man born in 1909, as well as the 1900s decade.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Marcel Meys was born in Saint-Julien-de-l'Herms, Isere, France on 12 July 1909. Meys remembered his father leaving to fight in the First World War in 1914 and returning later in the war.

During World War II, Meys worked as an Ambulance Driver. Later in the war, Meys helped the French Resistance by transporting supplies in his Ambulance.

After the war, Meys continued his work as an ambulance driver before his retirement in 1967. He had lived in the same house since 1957 in Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Rhone, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France.

Later Life[]

Meys' wife, Marthe, died in December 1998. Since his centenarian years, he had lived with his daughter. As of 2021, he had one grandchild and one great-grandchild. In July 2019, he celebrated his 110th birthday.

Following the death of Roger Auvin on 13 October 2019, Meys became the oldest man in metropolitan France (as Jules Theobald lived in the overseas department of Martinique). He became the oldest living person in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes following the death of Marie-Louise Taterode on 3 September 2020.

On 29 May 2021 at the age of 111 years, 321 days, he surpassed the age of Maurice Floquet as the second-oldest French man ever and the oldest man ever from metropolitan France.

According to the French forum, Les Grands Centenaires Francais, Meys experienced a small heart problem around the time of his 112th birthday which required medication. At the time of his 112th birthday, he only walked with his walker and out of necessity only.

Following the death of 112-year-old Jules Theobald on 5 October 2021, Marcel Meys became the oldest living man in France. At the time, he was still living in his home in Saint-Romain-en-Gal. In December 2021, he tested positive for COVID-19, and was admitted at hospital in Vienne, Isere.

Meys died of complications due to COVID-19 in a hospital in Vienne, Isere, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France on 15 December 2021 at the age of 112 years, 156 days. At the time of his death, he was the second-oldest known living man in Europe, behind Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia, and the third-oldest known living man in the world, behind Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia and Juan Vicente Perez Mora.

Gallery[]

References[]


France's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

Jean Teillet • Louis-Jules Lebon • Unknown • Pierre JamesAdolphe GravelinesHenri Perignon • Faustin Jaumard • Louis Brard • Andre Raynaud • Emile Fourcade • Bernard Delhom • Louis Arthur Bon • Leon-Clement Estivals • Jules Many • Theophane Rifosta • Alexis Daigneau • Raymond Abescat • Joseph Rabenda • Jean Chevenet • Maurice Floquet • Aime Avignon • Louis de Cazenave • Lazare Ponticelli • Pierre Picault • Joseph Malahieude • Felix Rostaing • Philibert Parnasse • Charles De Antoni • Andre Coudrat • Louis Le Bouedec • Emile Turlant • Philippe Vocanson • Roger Gouzy • Robert Bourdon • Georges Massard • Roger Auvin • Jules TheobaldMarcel MeysAndre BoiteGeorges ThomasMaurice Le Coutour

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