Émile Turlant

Émile Turlant (April 1, 1904^[1] – September 15, 2013) was, at the time of his death, France's oldest living man.^[2]

Life

Emile Turlant, from France, was born in Moulins-sur-Allier, a commune in the region of Auvergne in central France.^[3] 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.^[3] He married Lucienne Crête, a seamstress, in 1932 and had no children.^[3] He was mobilized during World War II but was not called up to fight.^[4] He worked during the night while she worked during the day, which he said prevented them from spending a lot of time together.^[3] Lucienne died in 1992.^[3] Turlant retired when he was in his 50s, and in the early 1960s he moved to Nièvre at Beaumont-la-Ferrière.^[3] Emile Turlant was described by his neighbors as someone who is grumpy, never happy, and very strong.^[4] Turlant lived by himself until age 92, when he decided to move to a retirement home due to declining strength.^[4] He received visits from some local officials once or twice during every month, including visits from the mayor of Beaumont-la-Ferrière.^[3][4] Before his death, Turlant had very poor hearing and had trouble moving, and in addition he did not speak much.^[4] Nevertheless, he enjoyed his 108th and 109th birthday celebrations, in both cases drinking wine and eating cake.^[3][4] He died September 15, 2013, at the age of 109.^[5]

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