| Marilee Asher | |
 | |
| Birth: | 17 November 1912 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Death: | 11 September 2020 Washington, D.C., USA |
| Age: | 107 years, 299 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Marilee Shapiro Asher (17 November 1912 – 11 September 2020) was a sculptor, author, and survivor of both the Spanish Flu and COVID-19.
Biography[]
Marilee Shapiro Asher was born to a wealthy Chicago family, being a daughter of Bonnie Harris. She contracted the Spanish Flu when she was six. She started studying sculpture in 1936 and had her first solo exhibition at American University in 1947. She has exhibited at Smart Museum, Vassar College, Franz Bader Gallery, Washington Studio School, Studio Gallery, the Cosmos Club and Warehouse Gallery. In the early 2000s, when looking for a less physical form of art, she studied digital art at the Corcoran School of Art and started doing digital photography. In 2010, her photography was displayed at the Iona Guest Show when she was a visiting artist.
Her work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian and the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 2019 she was on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour discussing how she maintains her productive life at the age of 106. She wrote an autobiography entitled Dancing in the Wonder of 102 Years.
In April 2020, Asher went into the hospital with COVID-19. She spent five days in the hospital before recovering and returning to the Chevy Chase House, Washington, DC where she lived. She died on 11 September 2020 at the age of 107 years, 299 days.
References[]
- Marilee H. Shapiro gallery plan b
- 102-Year-Old D.C. Artist Embraces A Century Of ‘Dancing In The Wonder’ WAMU, 24 July 2015
- 103 Year Old Sculptor Marilee Shapiro Asher Sculpture Digest, 20 November 2015
- Dancing in the Wonder Ralph Nader Radio Hour, 23 March 2019
- Working Woman: 106 years old, a sculptor turned photographer, and still going strong WJLA, 12 April 2019
- World's Oldest Covid Survivor at 107 Psychology Today, 5 May 2020
- She survived the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and COVID-19. What is this 107-year-old’s secret? Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 6 May 2020
- She survived 1918 Spanish flu and COVID-19. What’s this 107-year-old’s secret? The Times of Israel, 7 May 2020
- Marilee Shapiro Asher, artist who survived global pandemics a century apart, dies at 107 Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 30 September 2020