In 1909
Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1909
Maria Aulenbacher, 113
Maria Aulenbacher at age 110:
1910s: Maria Aulenbacher (far right) with her younger siblings.
Maria Aulenbacher as a young woman.
Maria Aulenbacher with her daughter Birgit, probably in late 40s/early 50s.
Maria Aulenbacher at age 110:
Maria Aulenbacher being interviewed at age 113.
Mar. 2, 2023; Maria Aulenbacher was born in Hesse, Germany on November 7, 1909. She was the oldest of six children. In 1937, she married August Aulenbacher, and they had two children: Birgit Dickerson and Michael Aulenbacher. Mrs. Aulenbacher lost her husband during World War II and raised their children alone. Despite old age, she was a traveller, visiting Italy, Spain, Portugal, and also Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, as late as in 2008 being 99 years old then. At the time of her 100th birthday, she lived in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, together with her sister’s family. At the age of 101, she moved to the United States. In February 2021 at the age of 111, Aulenbacher received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Following the death of 113-year-old Josefine Ollmann on July 16, 2022, Aulenbacher became the oldest known living German-born person.
Maria Aulenbacher died in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, USA on February 8, 2023 at the age of 113 years, 93 days. Her age was verified by GRG-Germany Correspondent Stefan Jamin, and validated by the GRG on Mar. 2, 2023.
Pearl Berg, 113
Pearl Berg at age 4 (1913) with her parents Archiebald and Anna Synenberg (left), and with her future husband Mark Berg (right).
Pearl Berg at age 109 (left) and at her 110, accompanied with her son Robert J. Berg. (right)
Pearl Berg at age 113.
Photo courtesy Mr. Robert J. Berg & Robert Young.
Feb. 6, 2023; Pearl Berg claimed to have been born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 14 February 1910; however, the subsequent research performed by the Gerontology Research Group with the help of the closest family members has proven that Mrs. Berg’s actual birthdate was 1 October 1909, and that she was born in Evansville, Indiana, USA. Her parents were Archie and Anna (née Gerson) Synenberg who had Polish and Russian ancestry. She spent her childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She moved to Los Angeles, California with her family in 1930. She became a member of Temple Israel in 1937 and continues to attend occasional services at the synagogue, usually during the High Holy Days. She married Mark Berg on 16 December 1931, with whom she had two children, Alan and Robert.
After her husband died in December 1989, Berg maintained a social life for herself by joining a book club, regularly attending concerts and plays, and becoming more involved with a bridge group. She was active in Temple Israel’s Sisterhood and was asked to write notes to bereaved families on behalf of the temple, which she continued to do until the age of 105. In October 2019, Berg turned 110 years old. At the time she lived in her own home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA.
As of Feb. 2023, Pearl Berg was the second-oldest known living person in the U.S. state of California (behind Edie Ceccarelli), and also the oldest known living Jewish person in the world.
Ethel Caterham, 113
Ethel Caterham at age 106 in 2015.
Ethel Cateham celebrating her 111th birthday in 2020.
Ethel Caterham celebrating her 113th birthday in 2022.
Photo courtesy Mr. Ollie Trim, GRG-United Kingdom Correspondent.
Jan. 23, 2023; Ethel Caterham was born on August 21, 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England, UK, and grew up in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. She was the second-youngest of eight children. In 1927, at the age of 18, she got a job as a nanny to a British family in India, and travelled alone for three weeks by ship to India. She worked there for three years before returning to England. In 1931, Caterham met her future husband Norman, a major in the British Army, at a dinner party. The couple married in Salisbury Cathedral where Norman was a choirboy and they lived together in Harnham, England, before they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. While living in Hong Kong, Caterham started a nursery for local and British children where she taught English, games, and crafts. While in Gibraltar, she and her husband started their family, eventually raising two girls back in the UK.
Caterham has lived in Surrey, England, for more than 50 years. She drove until she was 97 years old and was a regular bridge player in her centenarian years. At the time of her 110th birthday, she lived in a care home in Ash Vale, Surrey.
In 2020, at the age of 110, Caterham contracted COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic. However, she successfully recovered, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease. Caterham celebrated her 111th birthday in August 2020 with a tea party and a visit from the Mayor of Surrey Heath. A week beforehand, she was interviewed along with her granddaughter on BBC Radio Surrey.
Caterham became the oldest known living person in Surrey following the death of 109 year-old Kay Hurley on 17 January 2019. She later became the oldest known living person in the United Kingdom following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022.
In August 2022, Caterham celebrated her 113th birthday, making her the first person in the United Kingdom to reach this age since Olive Boar in 2017.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Caterham became one of only two people in the United Kingdom (along with Rose Eaton) to have been a subject of both Edward VII and Charles III. Following the death of Rose Eaton on 7 October 2022, Caterham became the last living person in the United Kingdom to have been born in the 1900s decade and also the last surviving British subject of Edward VII.
After the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023, Caterham became the second-oldest living person in Europe, after Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera.
Rose May Eaton, 113
Rose May Eaton in the 1980s:
Rose May Eaton at age 110:
Rose May Eaton at age 113:
Photo courtesy of Mr. Georg Dönni and Mr. Oliver Trim, GRG Correspondent for the UK.
Jan. 19, 2023; Rose May Eaton was born in Hackney, London, England, UK, on August 23, 1909. In 1960, she bought a Jaguar XK150, which she raced at club races. She also participated in many international Jaguar rallies. In August 2019, Eaton celebrated her 110th birthday in Surrey, England. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Eaton became one of only two people in the United Kingdom (along with Ethel Caterham) to have been a subject of both Edward VII and Charles III.
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Rose Eaton died from natural causes on the night of October 7, 2022 in Tongham, Surrey, England, UK, at the age of 113 years, 45 days. At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest known living person in the United Kingdom, behind Ethel Caterham, who is just two days older than her.
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The age of Mrs. Eaton was documented by Mr. Oliver Trim and validated by the GRG on Jan. 19, 2023.
Elizabeth Francis, 113
Elizabeth Francis on her 111th birthday.
Jan. 22, 2023; Elizabeth Francis was born in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, USA on 25 July 1909 to John and Virginia Francis. She later moved to Houston, Texas. In the 1970s, she ran the coffee
shop at Houston TV station KTRK-TV. In February 2021, she reconnected with her
old friend, news anchor Dave Ward, via Facetime. Francis currently lives with
her daughter in Houston. Francis’s sister Bertha Johnson (1904–2011) lived to the age of 106, making them one of the
oldest sibling pairs. As of February 2021, Francis has three grandchildren,
four great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
Okagi Hayashi, 113
Okagi Hayashi at age 110:
Okagi Hayashi at age 112 and 113.
Feb. 9, 2023; Okagi Hayashi was born in Japan on Sept. 2, 1909. She had nine children. On 24 October 2013, Hayashi became the oldest known living person in Toki City. On 24 June 2019, she became the oldest known living person in Gifu Prefecture following the death of Tsuyo Wada. In September 2019, Hayashi celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian. Soon after, she was reported as the oldest known living person in Gifu Prefecture and was visited by the Mayor of Toki, Junji Kato. At that time, she had 22 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.
At the time of her 113th birthday, Hayashi was a resident of Tsumagicho, Toki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
Annabelle Holblinger, 113
Annabelle Holblinger celebrating her 110th birthday
Annabelle Holblinger celebrating her 112th birthday.
Annabelle Holblinger as a young woman and together with her husband Anton Holblinger.
January 10, 2023; Annabelle Holblinger was born in Callicoon, New York, USA on 16 March 1909. Her parents were George Rosenberger Sr. and Wilhelmine (née Schubert) Rosenberger. She had six siblings: one of them, Mae Kratz (1911–2015), lived to be 104, and three other siblings lived into their 90s. Her father lived to be 97. Her paternal cousin Marie Zalesky (1907–2016) died at the age of 109. In 1932, she married Austrian-born Anton Holblinger, an electrical contractor. After their marriage, they moved into a fifth-floor Bronx apartment, and later to a home on Long Island. Holblinger filled the role of both homemaker — with a penchant for baking — and receptionist and occasional radio repairwoman for her husband’s business. Once her daughters became teenagers, Holblinger joined the team at Macy’s, first in the appliance department and later in women’s clothing. Her husband died in 1996.
Following the death of 111-year-old Hazel Eikermann on 27 August 2019, Holblinger became the oldest known person living in Colorado. She became the oldest Colorado resident in history on 23 February 2021, having surpassed Mayree Dougherty’s final age of 111 years, 343 days.
At the time of her 113th birthday in 2022, Holblinger was reported to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, making her one of the oldest people known to have been vaccinated against the disease. Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group on January 10, 2023.
Annabelle Holblinger died in Pueblo West, Colorado, USA on 27 January 2023 at the age of 113 years, 317 days. At the time of her death, she was the fourth-oldest validated living person in the United States, after Edie Ceccarelli, Hazel Plummer, and Nina Willis.
Charlotte Kretschmann, 113
Charlotte Kretschmann, undated photo:
Charlotte Kretschmann as a young woman with her daughter:
Charlotte Kretschmann in 2020, aged 109.
Spring 2023; Charlotte Kretschmann with her great-grandson:
Aug. 23, 2023; Charlotte Kretschmann was born in Breslau, Silesia, Germany (now Wrocław, Lower Silesia Voivodeship, Poland) on December 3, 1909. She married Werner Kretschmann and had one daughter with him. During the World War II, her husband was drafted to the army and sent on the frontline in France. In 1944, her daughter and she were forced to flee Breslau and moved to Stuttgart, Baden Wuerttenberg, Germany, where she was reunited with her husband after the war ended. At the time Charlotte was 109, her daughter was still alive, as well as two grandsons, Dominic and Peter.
Charlotte Kretschmann celebrated her 110th birthday in December 2019, becoming a supercentenarian. In March 2021 at the age of 111, she voted in the Baden-Wurttemberg state election. On June 19, 2023, the Gerontology Research Group announced on the World Supercentenarian Forum that Kretschmann had been given the pending status. On August 8, 2023, she surpassed the final age of Josefine Ollmann, becoming the oldest person ever to have been born and resided in Germany.
As of her 113th birthday, she lived in Kirchheim unter Teck, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. She is the oldest known living person in Baden-Wuerttemberg, and she has been the oldest known living person in Germany since the death of Anna Cernohorsky on September 18, 2022. She is also the third-oldest validated living person in Europe behind Maria Branyas Morera and Ethel Caterham.
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The case of Charlotte Kretschmann was verified by Stefan Jamin, Felix Kommnick et al., and validated by the GRG on Aug. 23, 2023.
Ushi Makishi, 114
Ushi Makishi, undated photo:
Ushi Makishi as an older woman, undated pictures:
Ushi Makishi as centenarian:
Ushi Makishi on her 110th birthday:
Ushi Makishi at age 111.
Ushi Makishi, aged 112, being vaccinated against COVID-19 (Aug. 2021):
Ushi Makishi (aged 112, in the middle of the front) photographed on October 19, 2021:
Ushi Makishi celebrating her 114th birthday (Feb. 2023):
Photo courtesy Yumi Yamamoto, GRG-Japan Correspondent.
Feb. 21, 2023; Ushi Makishi was born on February 15, 1909 in Nakagami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. At the age of 18, she married Sozaburo Makishi. She gave birth to her first child in 1929 at the age of 20. Altogether, the couple had six children. She worked at a spinning factory from the age of 13 until the end of the war, and afterwards she worked at a U.S. military base in Okinawa. Makishi moved into a nursing home when she was 96. In February 2019, she celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian.
On 6 August 2021, at the age of 112, Makishi received her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, making her one of the oldest (known) people to receive the vaccine. In September 2021, Makishi was reported to be the third-oldest known living person in Okinawa Prefecture, after Matsu Gaja and Nahi Yonamine. At the age of 113, Makishi occasionally enjoyed an Okinawan hand dance called ‘‘kachashi’’ [Japanese: カチャーシー]. She loved a local Okinawan dish called ‘‘jushi’’, which is rice cooked with pork. She also enjoyed steamed sweet potatoes. At the time of her 114th birthday, Ushi Makishi lived in Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. She was then the oldest living person in Okinawa Prefecture, and the third-oldest validated living person in Japan (after Fusa Tatsumi and Tomiko Itooka).
Ushi Makishi was verified by MHLW, Japan, Yumi Yamamoto, Robert Young, and Waclaw Jan Kroczek, and validated by the GRG on February 21, 2023.
Tane Matsubara, 113
Sept. 2022; Tane Matsubara (then aged 112), during the Keiro no hi celebrations. (Photo courtesy: Goo News, Hokkaido, Japan)
Feb. 10, 2023; Tane Matsubara was born in Japan on 1October 15, 1909. In October 2019, she celebrated her 110th birthday. At the time of her 113th birthday, Matsubara lived in Tomakomai, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. At the time of her GRG validation, she was the third oldest resident in the history of Hokkaido Prefecture.
Masa Matsumoto, 113
Masa Matsumoto at age 109:
Masa Matsumoto on her 110th birthday:
Masa Matsumoto on her 111th birthday:
Photo courtesy Town News Japan.
Feb. 24, 2023: Masa Matsumoto was born in Shiga Prefecture, Japan on November 29, 1909. Matsumoto moved to Osaka Prefecture after she got married. During the war, Matsumoto was hit by an air raid and had a painful experience, such as running over fallen people. When Matsumoto was 89 years old, she moved to Sakonyama where her eldest daughter Yasuko Nishide (aged 85 in September 2022) lived. After that, she continued to stay active, traveling to England with her granddaughter, going to a community care plaza and drawing pictures. In around 2017, Nishide became ill, so Matsumoto moved to a nearby nursing home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she could only meet with Nishide through a screen such as glass or mobile phone, and it took time to recognize Nishide, but she was thankful and calm. In November 2019, she celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian.
In September 2020, Matsumoto was listed as the third-oldest living person in Kanagawa Prefecture, behind Mitsu Katsuta of Yamato and a 111-year-old anonymous woman of Kawasaki. At the time of her 113th birthday, Matsumoto lived in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. In September 2022, she was reported as the oldest living woman in Yokohama and in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Juan Vicente Perez Mora, 113
On his wedding day in 1938
At age 100 (Mar. 2010)
On his 110th birthday in 2019.
At age 111.
At age 113.
Feb. 3, 2023; Juan Vicente Perez Mora was born in El Cobre, Tachira, Venezuela, on 27 May 1909. His parents were Euquitio Perez and Edelmira Mora. In 1913, his family moved to Caserio Caricuena, San Jose de Bolivar, where they bought a farm. At the age of 4, he already had eight brothers. While growing up, Perez Mora worked on the farm with his father and brothers. At the age of 10, he began to study, but only for a month since his teacher became ill. He learned to read and write from a book that the teacher gave him. His brother, Miguel, lived in the nearby village of Los Paujiles, and Perez Mora started working for him. There he met Ediofina Garcia and married her in San Jose de Bolivar in 1938. After marriage, they moved to the village of Los Paujiles in the municipality of Francisco de Miranda, Tachira, where their first son was born. In next years he saved enough money and bought a farm in Caserio Caricuena, where the rest of his children were born. The couple had six sons and five daughters.
In the late 1990s, his wife died. In May 2019, he celebrated his 110th birthday, becoming the first (known) male supercentenarian from Venezuela. As of May 2020, six of his children were still alive, three sons (Ysabelino, Angel Edecio, and Andronico) and three daughters (Mary, Elena, and Nelida).
On 18 June 2020, Perez Mora was interviewed by Agencia EFE as the oldest living person in Venezuela. On 18 January 2022, following the death of 112-year-old Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia of Spain, Perez Mora became the ‘Oldest Living Man in the World‘ titleholder.
He became the last known surviving man born in the 1900s decade, following the death of Delio Venturotti on 1 June 2022.
Perez Mora currently lives in San Jose de Bolivar, Tachira, Venezuela at the age of 113 years, 252 days.
Shina Seki, 113
Shina Seki at age 110.
Shina Seki at age 112.
Feb. 8, 2023; Shina Seki was born in Namegata, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on 1 October 1909. She graduated from a women’s normal school and worked as a vice-principal at another school. She retired in the mid-1950s, but still worked as a local welfare officer until the late 1980s. Her son Kotaro was born around 1935. Around 2005, Seki moved into a nursing home. She enjoyed poetry and released her first poetry collection at the age of 100. In May 2013, at the age of 103, she released her second songbook. She remained productive and active, writing up to three poems a day. She has attributed her longevity to living life in a happy and positive way, and eating well.
Seki became the oldest living person in Ibaraki after the death of 110-year-old Mitsuko Uesugi on 30 April 2018. She currently lives in Ishioka, Ibaraki, Japan at the age of 113 years, 130 days. In the light of the current knowledge, she is the second-oldest resident of Ibaraki Prefecture ever recorded.
Elise Tavan, 113
Elise Tavan at age 112.
Elise Tavan as a young woman together with her family.
Jan. 30, 2023; Elise Tavan was born in Dieulefit, Drome, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France on 16 April 1909. Her older brother died from an illness in 1912. Between 1911 and 1925, she saw the birth of seven of her younger brothers. One of her brothers, Andre, died from the Spanish flu in 1918. After Andre’s death in 1918, Tavan took care of her six younger brothers with her parents. Her father, who worked as a valet, was mobilized throughout the First World War in 1914. Her father then became a farmer, and later a trader, running a small grocery store with his wife. There was no shortage of work and Elise worked for many years in the family grocery store, an activity that she took over when her mother was too old. Tavan worked at her family’s grocery store until retiring when she was almost 70 years old.
Tavan was very religious. She remained single and didn’t have any children, and spent several decades discreetly in Dieulefit, keeping in touch with her living brothers and a few of her nieces and nephews. One of them took her in for a few years, then some health problems led her to move into a retirement home. In April 2019, Tavan celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian. There was also history of longevity in Tavan’s family. Three of her younger brothers lived into their 90s.
Tavan became the second-oldest known living person in France, following the death of Valentine Ligny on 4 January 2022.
Elise Tavan died in Charols, Drome, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France on 7 November 2022, at the age of 113 years, 205 days.
Nina Willis, 114
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Jan. 4, 2023; Nina Willis was born on 14 January 1909 in Robinson, Georgia, USA, and grew up in the town working as a farmer. She was one of 20 children. Her brother, Bethuel Frazier (1902–2011), lived to be 109. In 1947, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she did domestic work and worked in Kessler’s Department Store. She was married to Charles Willis, and the couple did not have any children. In her later years, Willis lived in a retirement home in Atlanta, Georgia, where she celebrated her 111th birthday in January 2020. She reportedly still watched baseball and basketball whenever there are games on TV, and read the newspaper every day. Her caretaker was her sister, Pecola Kirby, with whom she was very close.
Since the death of Bessie Hendricks on 3 January 2023, Willis was one of three people living in the United States that were born in the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the other two being Edie Ceccarelli, and Hazel Plummer. However, Maria Branyas Morera was born in the United States before all three of these supercentenarians, but lived in Spain.
At the time of her validation Willis was the third-oldest validated living person in the United States (after Edie Ceccarelli and Hazel Plummer), and the fourth-oldest validated living American-born person (after Maria Branyas Morera, Ceccarelli, and Plummer)
