Christina Karnebeek-Backs
- Full name: Christina Karnebeek-Backs
- Lifespan: (02.10.1749 – 07.10.1959)
- Age: 110 years, 5 days
- Birthplace: Holterhoek, Gelderland, Netherlands
- Last residence: Holterhoek, Gelderland, Netherlands
- Application date: N/A
- Validation date: 09.12.1999
- Validation source: Guinness World Records
Biography
Christina Backs was born in Holterhoek (a small hamlet in the vicinity of Eibergen), The Netherlands to parents Gerhardus Backs and Johanna Nijrolder on 2 October 1849. Her first husband, Gerrit Jan Startman, whom she had married on 21 September 1888 (coincidentally Geert Adriaans Boomgaard‘s 100th birthday), died on 27 December 1896 at the age of 65. Almost a year later, she would marry her second husband, Antonius Bernardus Karnebeek, on 11 November 1897. The two of them would spend the rest of their lives together in Holterhoek, where they had a farm. Antonius died in 1922, aged 67.
Towards the end of her own life, Karnebeek-Backs became somewhat of a celebrity in her native country, as no other Dutch woman had yet reached the ages of 108, 109, and 110 before; moreover, at the time of her death, no other woman in The Netherlands was older than 107. On her 110th birthday in 1959, family and press were invited to celebrate the milestone with her, yet Mrs Karnebeek-Backs was already suffering from a cold and hardly spoke a word. She would die five days later, late in the evening, after having been given her last rites.
Christina Karnebeek-Backs passed away in Holterhoek, Gelderland, Netherlands, on 7 October 1959, at the age of 110 years, 5 days.
She was the oldest living person in The Netherlands from the death of Petrus Bartelen on 17 July 1952 and the world’s oldest living person from the death of Nancy Ryan on 17 October 1958 until her own death on 7 October 1959, aged 110 years and 5 days. She was succeeded as oldest living person by Marie Olsen. She was the first female supercentenarian from the Netherlands, as well as the last validated surviving person born in the 1840s.
Christina Karnebeek-Backs, undated.
Longevity Recognition
- Doyenne of the Netherlands (until 07.10.1959)
- Oldest living person in the Netherlands (17.07.1952 – 07.10.1959)
- WORLD’s OLDEST PERSON (17.10.1958 – 07.10.1959)
- Netherlands Female Longevity Recordholder (1959 – 1980)
Validation
The age of Christina Karnebeek-Backs was meticulously examined and verified by Guinness World Records, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) as of 9 December 1999.
Christina Karnebeek-Backs at age 105.
Christina Karnebeek-Backs at age 108.
Christina Karnebeek-Backs at age 110.