Christian Mortensen
Encyclopedia
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
supercentenarian
Supercentenarian
A supercentenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians....
. At the time of his death he was 115 years and 252 days old—the longest fully authenticated lifespan of any male in history. He was the first undisputed man to reach 114 and 115 years of age and one of only two verifiably known to reach 115, the other being Emiliano Mercado del Toro
Emiliano Mercado del Toro
Emiliano Mercado del Toro was, at age 115, the world's oldest person for six weeks, and the world's oldest man from November 19, 2004 until his own death on January 24, 2007. He is the oldest verified military veteran ever...
. In addition to being the oldest person born in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Mortensen is also distinctive as the oldest person ever of all the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, the second-oldest person ever from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the oldest emigrant ever.
Mortensen was baptized in Fruering Church on December 26, 1882. Besides his baptismal record, other records include the 1890 and 1901 census enumerations in Denmark, and church confirmation in 1896.
Biography
Christian Mortensen was born the son of a tailor in the village of Skårup, near the city of SkanderborgSkanderborg
Skanderborg, with a population of 18,253 , is a town in Denmark just southwest of Aarhus. It is more or less a suburb today, located in Skanderborg municipality, Jutland.Skanderborg municipality has a population of 57,303 ....
Denmark, on August 16, 1882. He began work as a tailor's apprentice in Skanderborg at age 16, in 1898, and later took work as a farmhand.
Mortensen emigrated to the United States in 1903. He traveled while working as a tailor but settled in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where he had relatives. Mortensen worked various trades including as a milkman for Borden's Milk, as a restaurateur, and as a factory worker for the Continental Can Company
Continental Can Company
Continental Can Company was an American producer of metal containers and packaging company.The Continental Can Company was founded by Edwin Norton T.G. Cranwell in 1904, three years after the formation of its greatest rival, American Can Company...
. He was married for less than ten years, divorced and had no children. He did not remarry.
In 1950, Mortensen retired near Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay is a large estuary located along the upper coast of Texas in the United States. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropic marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the Bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water which supports a wide...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Then 28 years later, at the age of 96, he moved to a retirement home in San Rafael
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Mortensen claimed he rode his bicycle to the Aldersly Retirement Community, telling the staff that he was there to stay. Mortensen lived at Aldersly until his death in 1998.
Mortensen enjoyed an occasional cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
and insisted that smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
in moderation was not unhealthy. Mortensen preferred a vegetarian diet. He also drank boiled water. Mortensen was legally blind towards the end of his life and spent much of his time in a wheelchair listening to the radio.
On his 115th birthday Mortensen gave his advice for a long life: "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time"
See also
- List of the verified oldest people
- Oldest peopleOldest peopleThis is a list of tables of the verified oldest people in the world in ordinal rank, such as oldest person or oldest man. In these tables, a supercentenarian is considered 'verified' if his or her claim has been validated by an international body that specifically deals in longevity research, such...
- SupercentenarianSupercentenarianA supercentenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians....
- American supercentenarians
- AgeingAgeingAgeing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
External links
- Scandinavian obituaries: Dagbladet and Aftonbladet
- Aldersly Garden Retirement Community
- Fruering Church article at Danish Wikipedia