Émile Turlant

Émile Turlant (April 1, 1904 – September 15, 2013) was, at the time of his death, France's oldest living man since the death of 109-year-old Louis Le Bouedec on August 21, 2012.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Turlant was nearly three years younger than Olympe Amaury, France's oldest living supercentenarian woman.^[6][7]

Life

Emile Turlant, from France, was born in Moulins-sur-Allier, a commune in the region of Auvergne in central France.^[8] He went to Paris, the French capital, to work, first working in a parachute factory and then working for the RATP Group, which is a state-owned public transport operator.^[8] He married Lucienne Crête, a seamstress, in 1932.^[8] He did not have any children with her, and as he himself stated a lack of spare time might have been a factor in this decision.^[8] He was mobilized during World War II but was not called up to fight.^[9] He worked during the night while she worked during the day, which he said prevented them from spending a lot of time together.^[8] Lucienne died in 1992.^[8] Turlant retired when he was in his 50s, and in the early 1960s he moved to Nièvre at Beaumont-la-Ferrière.^[8] Emile Turlant was described by his neighbors as someone who is grumpy, never happy, and very strong.^[9] Turlant lived by himself until age 92, when he decided to move to a retirement home due to declining strength (for instance, he was no longer able to carry a bucket of coal, which he used to heat his house).^[9] He received visits from some local officials once or twice during every month, including visits from the mayor of Beaumont-la-Ferrière.^[8][9] Before his death, Turlant had very poor hearing and had trouble moving, and in addition he did not speak much.^[9] Nevertheless, he enjoyed his 108th and 109th birthday celebrations, in both cases drinking wine and eating cake.^[8][9] Throughout his life, Turlant always ate his vegetables (from his garden), was rarely sick, and was never operated on.^[9] Due to his longevity, Turlant had lived through World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the rise of the Internet, the War on Terrorism, and the end of the French Third Republic and French Fourth Republic.^[8] He died September 15, 2013 at the age of 109.^[10]

References