 |
| The world's oldest person
on record, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, seen celebrating her 114th
birthday in a retirement home in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, in this June
29, 2004 file
photo. | |
A Dutchwoman, the world's oldest person on record
who swore by a daily
helping of herring
for a healthy life, died on Tuesday aged 115.
Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, a former
needlework teacher born on June
29, 1890, died in her sleep at a nursing home in the northern Dutch town
of Hoogeveen.
"In the last few weeks she became weaker but she was bright up until
her last. She was ready to say goodbye," Johan Beijering, director of the
Westerkim nursing home, told Reuters.
"She thought it was great she was the world's oldest given that she
weighed only three pounds when she was born. She was an optimistic woman."
Also known as Hennie, the passionate soccer fan married a tax inspector
in the 1930s and was forced to sell her jewelry to buy food during the
German occupation in World War Two.
She had no children and was widowed in 1959 after 20 years of marriage,
but continued to live on her own in an apartment in Hoogeveen until she
was 106.
"I eat a herring every day and I drink a glass of orange juice every
day for the vitamins," the Ajax Amsterdam fan told journalists on her
114th birthday.
A spokesman for Guinness World Records, which had confirmed she was the
world's oldest known person, said that title had now passed to American
Elisabeth Bolden, born on August 15, 1890.
The world's oldest living man on record, Emiliano Mercado Del Toro,
lives in Puerto Rico. He was born on August 21, 1891.
The record for the longest life is held by French woman Jeanne-Louise Calment who died aged 122 in
1997, according to Guinness World
Records.
(Agencies) |
本周二，世界上年纪最大的老人、荷兰女寿星平静地走完了自己的人生旅途，享年115岁。她在世的时候一直相信每天吃一小份鲱鱼，有利于保持身体健康。
亨德里克吉·范安德尔·席佩尔生于1890年6月29日，她曾经当过缝纫老师。8月30日，她在荷兰北部城镇霍赫芬的一家疗养院中，在睡梦中安详辞世。
“在最后几个星期中，她越来越虚弱，但直到生命的最后一刻她的精神状态一直都很好。她已经做好准备和这个世界告别了。”韦斯特金疗养院院长约翰·贝耶尔告诉路透社记者说。
“想到自己出生时只有3磅，她为自己能成为世界上年纪最大的人而感到高兴。她非常乐观。”
有时候人们会叫她亨尼，她还是一个狂热的足球迷。上世纪30年代，她和一名税检员结婚。第二次世界大战期间，荷兰被德国占领时，她不得不变卖自己的珠宝首饰来换取食物填饱肚子。
她一辈子都没有孩子。1959年，也就是结婚20年后，她就开始守寡。此后，她一直独自在小镇霍赫芬的一套公寓中生活到106岁。
“我每天坚持吃一条鲱鱼，喝一杯橙汁来获取维生素，”这位荷兰阿贾克斯队的忠实球迷在她114岁生日的时候对记者说。
《吉尼斯世界记录》确认她是人们所知道的、现在世界上年纪最大的人。《吉尼斯世界记录》的一位发言人表示在席佩尔去世后，现在“世界上最长寿的人”是美国人伊丽莎白·波登，她出生于1890年8月15日。
世界上有记载的现在还健在的男寿星是波多黎各的埃米利亚诺·梅尔卡多·德尔·托罗，他出生于1891年8月21日。
有记载的世界上曾经最长寿的人是法国女寿星珍妮·路易丝·卡尔梅特，据《吉尼斯世界记录》记载，1997年她去世时122岁。
（中国日报网站 薛晓文译） |
Updated: 2005-09-01 08:53
