# The last person who was alive in the 19th century just died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537 "2017-04-16T01:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/1 "2017-04-16T01:13:35Z")
Thats an odd thought, that nobody on earth who was alive before 1900 is alive now. > **[World's oldest person, Emma Morano, dies at age of 117](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39610937)** > > Italian Emma Morano dies at the age of 117, having lived in three centuries. > [@](#): > > The world’s oldest person has died in Italy at the age of 117, reports say. > > Emma Morano was born on 29 November 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy. She was officially the last person born in the 1800s still living. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/2 "2017-04-16T01:30:23Z")
Well, damn. I’d known there was one left, thanks for the update. I used to know quite a few folks from that century, starting with my great grandfather and great grandmother along with my great great granduncle George, born in 1876 and the son of a civil war vet. Wonder what notable point in time we’ll age out of next? Most WW II vets are now over 90, but it’ll take a while before we lose the last one of them. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/3 "2017-04-16T01:35:47Z")
Not sure if I’ve ever met anyone from the 1800s. I probably had, back in the 70s, but I don’t recall anyone specific that might have fit. My relatives of that era were either dead by then, or actually born just past 1900. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/4 "2017-04-16T01:44:38Z")
I knew some, but it’s been a while. The end of an era. WWI vets is coming. I fear the end of the Holocaust survivors as well. There are fewer and fewer. The world is a better place for having them here among us. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/5 "2017-04-16T01:50:48Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > WWI vets is coming. We lost our last WW I vet a while ago. [Florence Green](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/world/europe/florence-green-last-world-war-i-veteran-dies-at-110.html) died in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/6 "2017-04-16T02:22:18Z")
:smack: I meant WWII. I need a psychic keyboard. Type what I meant please. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/7 "2017-04-16T02:54:54Z")
Not to piss on the thread title, but the newest oldest person is a Jamaican lady named Voilet Brown that was born on March, 10 1900. That is still technically the the 19th century as well. Emma Morano was the last person living person born _in the 1800’s_ but 117 isn’t bad no matter how you slice it. > **[Jamaican centenarian now oldest person in the world](https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170415/jamaican-centenarian-now-oldest-person-world)** > > Jamaican centenarian Violet Brown is now the oldest living person in the world. Brown, who is 117 years and 36 days old, took over from Italian Emma Morano who passed away today. Morano’s life spanned three centuries, two World Wars, 90... Now that we have that out of the way, I knew my great-grandmother who was born in 1883 and I am only 43 myself. It was just a fluke of having my grandfather in her mid-forties. It is a little freaky to think that I knew a grandparent who was practically middle-aged for the time when the Titanic sank and WWI broke out. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/8 "2017-04-16T03:31:55Z")
Having been born in the 1950s, it was no big deal that I knew folks born in the 1800s. My (late) grandmother was born in 1898. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/9 "2017-04-16T03:37:40Z")
My father was seven years old in 1900. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/10 "2017-04-16T03:43:15Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Thats an odd thought, that nobody on earth who was alive before 1900 is alive now. > > [World's oldest person, Emma Morano, dies at age of 117 - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39610937) That the media knows about. Keep that in mind that no every single human in the world has their age recorded and accounted for and in direct access for any particular journalist. There are some lazy researchers out there, I see it often enough as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/11 "2017-04-16T03:45:13Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > WWI vets is coming. **I fear the end of the Holocaust survivors as well. There are fewer and fewer. The world is a better place for having them here among us.** And similarly, the end of the Holocaust perpetrators draws nigh. There are fewer and fewer. The world will be a better place when the last of them is gone. May God do the right thing with their souls. And all the Nazi-hunters can relax and retire. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/12 "2017-04-16T03:53:11Z")
My grandfather was born in October of 1900, so as has been pointed out he was born in the 19th century. But he died in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/13 "2017-04-16T04:54:07Z")
My grandfather, who died when I was 11, was born in 1879. I also knew my great-grandmother, who was married to the son of a Civil War veteran who was born in 1861. My grandmother was born in 1900. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/14 "2017-04-16T05:30:23Z")
All of my grandparents and their siblings were born in the 19th century, as well as many of my doctors and teachers. And many of my aunts and uncles were born in the first decade of the 20th. My oldest aunt was born in 1900, and lived into the 21st century. I have a photo of her, age 2, with my grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/15 "2017-04-16T05:51:26Z")
A bit of a reminder of how young I am on this board. I don’t think even my great grandparents were born in the 19th century. Maybe the ones on my dad’s side, since his parents were older. But they died before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/16 "2017-04-16T06:43:43Z")
I keep thinking that my grandfather would’ve been 100 years-old this year. (He died in 1985 and I while I was only 7 when he died, I still think about him all the time. :() ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/17 "2017-04-16T07:49:04Z")
All my grandparents were born in the 19th century. I’m 68 but suddenly I feel much much older. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/18 "2017-04-16T09:08:53Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > All my grandparents were born in the 19th century. I’m 68 but suddenly I feel much much older. The same, in every particular, applies to me. Owing to various circumstances, I only ever knew one of my grandparents: maternal grandmother, who died in 1956, in her early seventies. I was acquainted with various 19th-century-born great-aunts and -uncles: the last of whom to die – who I personally knew – were “one of each”, who both died in 1973. The great-aunt, who lived into her nineties, was a few years older than the great-uncle. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/19 "2017-04-16T09:09:30Z")
My great-grandfather was born in 1896 and died in 1993, when I was 11 years old. I was fortunate enough to meet him. He always had a smile for me. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/20 "2017-04-16T09:32:55Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Well, damn. I’d known there was one left, thanks for the update. > > I used to know quite a few folks from that century, starting with my great grandfather and great grandmother along with my great great granduncle George, born in 1876 and the son of a civil war vet. > > Wonder what notable point in time we’ll age out of next? Most WW II vets are now over 90, but it’ll take a while before we lose the last one of them. I knew lots of WWI vets as a child, although they were already very old. WWII vets were middle aged, and Vietnam Vets were young guys, my parents’ age and much younger. “Holocaust survivor” depends on how you define it. The last of the survivors of the camps are very old. One is a member of my synagogue, and he was liberated by the Russians right before Passover. My bat mitzvah portion is his “rescue” portion. However, people who survived as children, including “Hidden Children,” who were hidden in convent schools, or by gaining false papers and staying with German families, are in their 70s, and people who survived in hiding other ways, like my aunt, are also in their seventies. G-d willing, they could be with us for 20 more years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537.md?page=2)