The dean of the French age, Marcel Mies, died at the age of 112, at the age of 112, on Tuesday night, Wednesday, in a hospital in the city of Vienne, after a struggle with Covid-19, according to his only daughter, Nicole Poiron.
“My father was still living in his house, but he contracted Covid-19, his condition worsened and he was given an oxygen machine. They did the impossible, but he is 112 years old…” Bouiron told AFP.
Mays was born on July 12, 1909 and lived alone in his house. He was admitted to hospital on December 2.
Poiron noted that “he spent his life happily because he lived in his house. He was fully mentally able, he lived alone but was well cared for” with the help of the home care teams.
The former medic who lived through the two world wars has been widowed since 1998. According to his daughter, he was hard of hearing and almost blind.
Poiron recounted that her father “worked a lot” and “traveled a little”, and he liked the game of “Scrabble” and did not play sports, but walked a little and played pétanque, noting that he was “a man a little isolated, but he loves the family.”
Marcel Mies became the dean of the age of the French on October 5, after the death of Jules Theobald at the age of 112 at his home in Fort-de-France on the French island of Martinique.
There is no official body granting the title of dean of age in France, but rather a list prepared by Laurent Toussaint, who with time became an expert in the knowledge of centenarians.
“In about two weeks, Mays would have become the oldest man in France ever,” Toussaint told AFP, noting that Theobald died at the age of 112 years and 171 days, while Mays lived 112 years and 156 days.
He added that there are currently in France “one man and 33 women” over the age of 110, which is the threshold for a person to become a dean of age. Four men, 109 years old, are about to enter this closed circuit.
Toussaint points out that more men are reaching this category.
After Mays’ death, it is possible that a man from Nice will become the dean of the age of the French, after he celebrated his 111th birthday on December 6, according to Toussaint.
The dean of the French age, Sister Andre, 117, recovered from Covid-19, after contracting it in January 2021.