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Geert Adriaans Boomgaard
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard at the age of 110.
Birth: 21 September 1788
Groningen, The Netherlands
Death: 3 February 1899
Groningen, The Netherlands
Age: 110 years, 135 days
Country: NetherlandsNED
Validated

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard (21 September 1788 – 3 February 1899) was a Dutch supercentenarian who is accepted by most demographic scholars as the first verified supercentenarian case on record,[1] although some people view him as the second supercentenarian; his fellow countryman Thomas Peters (1745?–1857) allegedly lived to 111 years, 354 days, yet this claim has not been validated. Since there is evidence that Boomgaard served as a soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armée,[2] he may have in fact been the oldest military veteran ever for several decades (the oldest military veteran ever is the Puerto Rican man Emiliano Mercado del Toro who lived to 115 years, 156 days).

Life

Boomgaard was born in Groningen, The Netherlands, where he also died. His father was a boat captain, and civil records show he followed the same career,[3] yet only after he had returned from his position as a soldier in the 33rd Light Infantry Regiment in Napoleon's Grande Armée; he had even fought for Napoleon in Russia. On 4 March 1818, aged 29, Boomgaard married Stijntje Bus,[4] who died on 24 March 1830 at age 33 a month after their eighth child had been born. Almost a year later, on 21 March 1831, Boomgaard married Grietje Abels Jonker and had 4 more children.[5] Grietje died on 18 May 1864 at the age of 71. Boomgaard outlived all of his twelve children; his last surviving child, Jansje Hinderika, died in May 1885 at the age of 57.

Towards the end of his life, Boomgaard became well-known for his age; the portraits made on the occasion of his 100th and 107th birthdays[6] were popular throughout the country; even Princess Emma, Queen Regent at the time, had received a copy of one of the portraits.[7]

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard died at the age of 110 years, 135 days on 3 February 1899.[8] His record-setting age was surpassed by Margaret Ann Neve on 30 September 1902; his record as the oldest verified man ever was surpassed only 64 years later, on 28 October 1966, by John Mosley Turner of The United Kingdom who lived to be 111 years, 280 days, a year and 145 days more than Mr. Boomgaard's record. (However, it should be noted that pending case Robert Alexander Early of the United States, who lived to the age of 111 years, 1 day, would have surpassed Mr. Boomgaard's record on 21 February 1960 if his age was true.)

Gallery

Trivia

  • Apparently, Geert Adriaans Boomgaard moved houses a lot in his adult life; his children's birth certificates note no fewer than five different addresses where he lived.[9]
  • Mr. Boomgaard was quite the stubborn man; while living in the "Jacob en Anna Gasthuis" (a retirement home for the elderly), he once was not happy with the food he received there - rice, imported from the then Dutch colony Indonesia. When Mr. Boomgaard got his way and received potatoes, yet still complained about those, he was reprimanded for his behaviour, despite being well in his 90s.[10]

References


Netherlands' Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • TE)

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard• Unknown • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Wilhelminus Kostering • Hendrikje Smit-Meijering • Maria Hund-Smit • Kiet Portier-Tan • Marianna Kors-Dikker • Johanna de Bree-Meijer • Johanna Pouwaart-Ratelband • Betje Comijs-Cicero • Reinskjen Pruiksma-Bakker • Henri van Dooren • Cornelis Bredijk • Elisabeth Weddige-Tedsen • Elisabeth van der Burg-Leusveld • Johanna Leeuwenburg-HordijkCornelia la Fors-van Geel • Gerarda Hurenkamp-Bosgoed • Wilhelmina CammelPetronella Ribbens-Verstallen • Frederika van Asselt-Benkemper • Margaretha Eijken • Christina van Druten-Hoogakker • Jan Machiel Reyskens • Trijntje Jansma-BoskmaJohanna Zandstra-Giezen • Ann Flower • Johanna van Dommelen-Hamer • Cornelia Hendrikse-Maas • Geertje Roelinga-de Groot • Catharina van Dam-GroeneveldHendrikje van Andel-Schipper • Alexandrina van Donkelaar-Vink • Grietje Jansen-Anker • Bertha van Hasselt • Wijtske van Dijk-Meindersma • Geertruida DraaismaCornelis Geurtz • Egbertje Leutscher-de Vries • Nelly de Vries-Lammerts • Geertje Kuijntjes • Anne Brasz-Later • Maria Luisa Benjamin • Ebeltje Boekema-HutLeny MackenbachMarina van der Es-SiewersJohn Huang


World's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • TE)

Sylvester MelvinJoseph Saint-Amour • William Fullingim • John Mosley Turner • Friedrich Wedeking • Frederick Butterfield • Jean Teillet • Charlie Nelson • Charlie Phillips • Zachariah BlackistoneJames NashWalter WilcoxGregory PandazesJoe Thomas • Herman Smith-Johannsen • Alphaeus Philemon Cole • John Evans • Henri Perignon • James Wiggins • Frederick Frazier • Josep Armengol-Jover • Christian Mortensen • Johnson Parks • Walter Richardson • Denzo Ishizaki • Antonio Urrea-Hernandez • John Painter • Antonio Todde • Yukichi Chuganji • Joan Riudavets-Moll • Fred Hale • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Tomoji Tanabe • Henry Allingham • Walter Breuning • Jiroemon Kimura • Salustiano Sanchez • Arturo Licata • Alexander Imich • Sakari Momoi • Yasutaro Koide • Israel Kristal • Francisco Nunez Olivera • Masazo NonakaChitetsu WatanabeBob WeightonEmilio Flores MarquezSaturnino de la Fuente GarciaJuan Vicente Perez Mora


Europe's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard • Unknown • Matthias DodenhoffFrederick StabbinsWilliam MugfurSven ErikssonJean-Pierre DupontWilliam WalkerBening Arnold • Hans Schaftner-BurginLars OlofssonMarc PicqJohan Svanstrom • Erik JanssonFrancesco CubaddaThomas PopeJohn FrancklowKarl Nilsson • Constant De LichteAntonio Marchi • August KarlssonKarl GlocknerAnders JonassonMathias Hansen SaetherJan KipWillem Kostering • Francesco Paba • John Mosley Turner • Antonije MladenovicFriedrich Wedeking • Frederick Butterfield • Jean Teillet • Pasquale CappelloGiuseppe Arena • Luigi SabaIngebrigt Johansen • Victor Guillot • Andrei Kuznetsoff • Herman Smith-Johannsen • John Evans • Henri PerignonDomenico Minervino • Josep Armengol-Jover • Pablo Roy • Emile Fourcade • Bernard Delhom • Valentino StellaGregorio Merino • Antonio Baldo • Antonio Urrea-Hernandez • Alejandro Rivera Santalla • Antonio Todde • Joan Riudavets-MollHermann Dornemann • Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski • Maurice Floquet • Henry AllinghamHarry Patch • Stanley Lucas • Jan Goossenaerts • Francisco Fernandez • Arturo Licata • Rezso GallaiPhilippe Vocanson • Harold Bracher • Francisco Nunez Olivera • Gustav GernethBob Weighton • Dumitru Comanescu • Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia • Stanislaw Kowalski • Andre BoiteHans SchornackAndre LudwigJohn Tinniswood

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