Marie-Louise Fébronie Meilleur (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Chassé; August 29, 1880 – April 16, 1998) was a Canadian supercentenarian. Meilleur is the oldest validated Canadian ever and upon the death of longevity world record holder

Jeanne Calment Jeanne Louise Calment (; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian and the oldest human whose age is documented, with a lifespan of 122 years and 164 days. Her longevity attracted media attention and medical studies ...

, became the world's oldest recognized living person.

Early life

Marie-Louise Fébronie Chassé was born on August 29, 1880 in

Kamouraska, Quebec Kamouraska is a municipality on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Regional County Municipality of Kamouraska. It has been named one of the top 20 most beautiful villa ...

to her parents
Pierre Charles Pitre Chassé
an
Marie-Catherine Febronie Lésvesque.
She married her first husband, Étienne Leclerc, at age 20 in 1900. Leclerc was a fisherman and died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on February 24, 1911, aged 39. They had six children; four survived to adulthood. In the following twelve months, both of her parents died: her father on June 25, 1911, aged 61; and her mother on February 23, 1912, aged 59.

Move to Ontario

In 1913, Marie-Louise placed two of her four surviving children with family or friends, and moved to the

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

border to help support her sister, whose children were sick with

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

. There she married her second husband, Hector Meilleur, on October 25, 1915. They had six children together.

Return to Kamouraska and later life

Meilleur did not return to the Quebec region until 1939, when she settled again in Kamouraska. Her second husband Hector Meilleur died in 1972 at age 93, of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. From that time Meilleur lived with one of her daughters for a period. When she needed more care, she moved to a nursing home in

Corbeil Corbeil may refer to: Places * Corbeil, Ontario, Canada * Corbeil, Marne, a commune in the Marne département in north-eastern France * Corbeil-Cerf, a commune in the département of Oise in northern France * Corbeil-Essonnes, a commune in the so ...

. Of the twelve children born to her, only four survived her. She had 85 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren, 57 great-great-grandchildren, and four great-great-great-grandchildren. Meilleur quit smoking at age 102 in 1982, after catching a cold. In 1986, when asked the secret to long life, she claimed it was hard work. Meilleur was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. She became the world's oldest living person on August 4, 1997, after the death of 122-year-old Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. By her 117th birthday, she was too weak to talk. She could hear only if someone shouted directly into her right ear.

Death

Marie Louise Meilleur died of a

thrombus A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of ...

at age 117 on April 16, 1998 in Corbeil. One of her sons was living in the same nursing home, and her oldest living daughter, Gabrielle Vaughan, was ninety. Vaughan died in 2004 at age 96.http://www3.sympatico.ca/mgchassey/M_Lse/M_Lse2.htm Meilleur was buried alongside her second husband in Swisha, where she had previously lived. American

Sarah Knauss Sarah DeRemer Knauss (; September 24, 1880 – December 30, 1999) was an American supercentenarian. She is the oldest person ever from the United States and, on April 16, 1998, became the world's oldest living person. She remains as the thir ...

(1880–1999) succeeded her as the oldest living person.

References

External links