Leila Denmark

Leila Alice Denmark, MD (née Daughtry; February 1, 1898 – April 1, 2012)^[1] was an American pediatrician. She was the world's oldest practicing pediatrician until her retirement in May 2001 at the age of 103.^[2] She was a supercentenarian, living to the age of 114 years, 60 days. On December 10, 2011, at age 113 years 312 days, she became one of the 100 oldest people ever. At her death she was the 5th-oldest verified living person in the world and the 3rd-oldest verified living person in the United States.

As a pioneering female doctor, a medical researcher and an outspoken voice in the pediatric community, Denmark was one of the very few supercentenarians in history to gain prominence in life for reasons other than age.

Biography

Early life

Born in Portal, Georgia, Denmark was the third of 12 children born to Elerbee and Alice Cornelia Hendricks Daughtry. Her paternal uncle was Missouri Congressman James Alexander Daugherty.^[3] She attended Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia, where she trained to be a teacher, but decided to attend medical school when her fiancé, John E. Denmark (1899–1990)^[4] was posted to Java, Dutch Indies, by the United States Department of State and no wives were allowed. She was the only woman in the 1928 graduating class of the Medical College of Georgia, and married soon after graduation. Denmark is credited as co-developer of the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine in the 1920s and 1930s.^[5] For this, she was awarded the Fisher Prize in 1935.

Medical career

Following graduation, she accepted a residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to the Virginia-Highland^[6] neighborhood with her husband. Denmark was the first physician on staff at Henrietta Egleston Hospital, a pediatric hospital on the Emory University campus, when it opened. In private practice, she saw patients in a clinic at her home and devoted a substantial amount of her professional time to charity. She never refused a referral from the public health department. On March 9, 2000, the Georgia General Assembly honored her in a resolution.

Denmark outlined her views on child-rearing in her book Every Child Should Have a Chance,^[7] published in 1971. She was among the first doctors to object to cigarette smoking around children, and drug use in pregnant women. She believed that drinking cow's milk is harmful, and that children and adults should eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juices, and drink only water.^[8]

Later life

On her 100th birthday in 1998, she refused cake because there was too much sugar in it. When she refused cake again on her 103rd birthday, she explained to the restaurant's server that she had not had any food with added sugar in it in 70 years. She wrote a second book, published in 2002, with Madia Bowman titled Dr. Denmark Said It!: Advice for Mothers from America's Most Experienced Pediatrician.^[9]

Denmark lived in Alpharetta, Georgia until age 106, when she moved to Athens, Georgia to live with her only daughter, Mary Hutcherson. On February 1, 2008, Denmark celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming a supercentenarian. According to Hutcherson, Denmark's health deteriorated severely in the autumn of 2008 but later improved as she neared her 111th birthday.^[10] In addition to Hutcherson, her only child, Denmark had two grandchildren, Steven and James, and two great-grandchildren, Jake and Hayden.

See also

• List of the verified oldest women
• List of oldest people by year of birth
• List of centenarians (medical professionals)

References

External links

• Keenlyside, Barbara. "Dr. Leila Denmark's secret: Love what you do." Atlanta Business Chronicle, 24 July 1998.
• Meyer, M.D., Charles R. "The Graying Physician". 'MMA Publications', August 2006.
• Report on Leila Denmark's supercentenarian status
• Newspaper report of her 112th birthday
• Obituary from The Telegraph