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Petronella Braams
Petronella Braams
Birth: 8 December 1841
Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Death: 29 June 1948
Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands
Age: 106 years, 204 days
Country: NetherlandsNED
Centenarian

Petronella Elisabeth Herfst-Braams (8 December 1841 – 29 June 1948) was a Dutch centenarian who was the oldest known living person in the Netherlands and Europe at the time of her death.

Biography[]

Petronella Braams was born in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands on 8 December 1841. Her parents were Pieter Braams and Sophia Reijse. She had three siblings.

She married Pieter Herfst in 1863. The couple had 16 children and lived in Honingerdijk, Kralingen. Pieter died in 1924, after nearly 60 years of marriage.

She worked a baker until age 90. At the age of 95, she moved to the home of her daughter in Libanonweg, Kralingen.

In 1946, on the occasion of her 105th birthday, the Polygoon news made a short report about her, which was shown in cinemas throughout the Netherlands and which she also saw herself in the Victoria theater in Rotterdam. For her birthday, the American Red Cross presented her with a large box of cigarettes.

On 3 March 1948 at the age of 106 years, 86 days, she surpassed the age of Sophia Wijnberg, becoming the oldest Dutch woman ever.

She became the oldest known living person in Europe, following the death of 107-year-old Elizabeth Sellwood of England on 19 March 1948.

Braams died in Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands on 29 June 1948 at the age of 106 years, 204 days. Following her death, then-105-year-old Matilda Coppins of England became the oldest known living person in Europe.

Legacy[]

In 2006, her great-grandson donated the "black jacket with silver brooch" and the hat, which she had worn on special occasions for over forty years, to the Rotterdam Museum.

References[]


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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