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Marie-Virginie Duhem
Marie-Virginie Duhem
Marie-Virginie Duhem on 21 January 1977, aged 110.
Birth: 2 August 1866
Seclin, Nord, Hauts-de-France, France
Death: 25 April 1978
Wattignies, Nord, Hauts-de-France, France
Age: 111 years, 266 days
Country: FranceFRA
Validated

Virginie Marie "Marie-Virginie" Duhem (née Mollet; 2 August 1866 – 25 April 1978) was a validated French supercentenarian who was the world’s oldest living person at the time of her death.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Marie-Virginie Duhem was born Mollet on 2 August 1866 in Seclin, Nord, Hauts-de-France, France, the daughter of Charles Mollet (1827-1899) and Virginie Serrurier (1826-1907). She can remember 1870's war: "I was very young, but I can remember well that at school, we made some lint for soldiers." She sometimes visited Paris in her youth.

In 1885, Duhem met Jules Verne (a famous French science-fiction writer) in Lille's station. "It's my younger brother Victor who shew me Jules Verne sat on a bench while reading newspapers. We came next him and I began the conversation. Really, he was charming." She tells about the Belle Epoque: "It was beautiful because it was simple... Nothing was as difficult as today."

She married Hippolyte Duhem (1862-1939) on 24 June 1893 in Seclin; he was a chemical engineer. They had eight children, who had fifteen grandchildren. One of her daughters, Agnes Costemend [French: Agnès], lived to age 105, born on 1 December 1907 and deceased on 4 June 2013.

Later Life[]

In 1972, aged 106, Duhem fell in the stairs, and was hospitalised during three weeks, but managed to recover.

On 21 January 1977, aged 110, Duhem received the Légion d'Honneur's cross from Maurice Schumann. At this time, it as reported she was almost blind, so she listens the radio rather than watching television. She had also more than 500 descendants. When asked if she prefered the Belle Epoque or this time, she replied: "There's a bit more liberty for children... Finally, it's good." When asked for the secret of her longevity, she was surpised, because she thinks there isn't any secret. She died on 25 April 1978, in Wattignies, Nord, Hauts-de-France, France.

Longevity records[]

Duhem became France's oldest person in 1975, with the death of 109-year-old Marie-Ernestine Compain, and the following year she surpassed Compain's age of 109 years, 316 days to become the oldest Frenchwoman ever. On 2 August 1976, she became the first French supercentenarian. On 2 December 1977, with the death of Sophia DeMuth, she became the world's oldest person. She died on 25 April 1978, aged 111 years, 266 days. Her French age record was surpassed by Augustine Tessier in 1980. Fannie Thomas succeeded her as the world's oldest person.

References[]


France's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • TE)

Marie LangloisRose SardaCalixte RazimbaudCatherine MoucheAuguste DecateDesiree DeloryFerdinise Nebolle • Georgette JeanmaireEugenie MarchandEugenie ProuxEmilie CoqueranLaurence EntiopeMarie-Ernestine Compain • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Frederique Noel • Augustine Tessier • Elisa Esnault • Elvire Mendiboure • Eugenie Roux • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Helene Chanteperdrix • Jeanne Dumaine • Marie Bremont • Germaine Haye • Anne Primout • Camille Loiseau • Marie-Simone Capony • Clementine Solignac • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Diaz • Marcelle Narbonne • Marie-Therese Bardet • Paule Bronzini • Irenise Moulonguet • Suzanne Burrier • Marie Liguinen • Olympe Amaury • Eudoxie Baboul • Elisabeth Collot • Honorine Rondello • Lucile RandonMarie-Rose Tessier


World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • William Fullingim • Hannah Smith • John Mosley Turner • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma WilsonAugusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Yukichi Chuganji • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Jiroemon Kimura • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet BrownNabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


World's Oldest Living Woman Titleholders (VE)

Betsy BakerJennie HowellMarie CarstensonNancy RyanChristina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Yoshigiku Ito • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Koto Okubo • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo MiyakoKane TanakaLucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera


Europe's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Willem van Renterghem • Marie d'Evergroote • Lavina Hansdatter • Kirsti Skagen • Geert Adriaans Boomgaard • Margaret Ann Neve • Karen BrodbaekSophia Wijnberg • Agnete Olsdatter • Honor Coleman • Sophie Lacomte • Maria Vleminckx • Johanna Berns • Matthias Dodenhoff • Sarah Gardiner • Elisabeth Jensen • Britta Njeldsdatter • Frederick Stabbins • Jane Lister • Martha Truelove • Ann Sharp • Gertrud Kübbeler • Marie Delfairiere • Frances Smith • Katherine Plunket • Eliza Roff • Maria Montemurro • Ellen Palmer • Rachel MacArthur • Anne Marie SkauRachel Swain • Wilhelmine Olschewski • Mary Davey • Francesco Cubadda • Thomas Pope • John Francklow • Rebecca Lees • Sarah Fitt • Johanna Johansson • Elizabeth Sellwood • Petronella Braams • Matilda Coppins • Elizabeth Whitehead • Karl Glockner • Sarah Humphrey • Maria Johansson • Michelina Macchia • Caroline Beale • Josephine Marchal • Luise Rissmann • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Willem Kostering • Ella Ille Rentel • Lovisa Svensson • Ellen Dart • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Anna KrslencovaJohn Mosley Turner • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Frederick Butterfield • Rose Heeley • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Josefa Llovet • Florence PannellAugustine Tessier • Jeanetta Thomas • Alice Brewster • Petronella Ribbens-Verstallen • Anna Eliza Williams • Jeanne Calment • Lucy Askew • Annie Jennings • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Amy Hulmes • Germaine Haye • Teresa Fumarola • Joan Riudavets-Moll • Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper • Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi • Camille Loiseau • Maria de Jesus • Manuela Fernandez-Fojaco • Lucia Lauria • Florrie Baldwin • Venere Pizzinato-Papo • Marcelle Narbonne • Marie-Therese Bardet • Maria Redaelli • Emma Morano • Ana Vela Rubio • Giuseppina Projetto • Maria Giuseppa Robucci • Lucile RandonMaria Branyas Morera

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