BIOGRAPHY

Francine Boulot was born in the commune of Longeau in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France, on 24 May 1906. Her parents were François Amedée Baudot (1875–1909) and Marie Justine Alice Moussus (1885–1985). According to her daughter, she was deeply affected by the First World War. She often recounted a haunting memory of a fallen soldier—how a dead man slipped from a truck and was caught by other soldiers who laughed as it happened.

After her father’s death, her mother decided to move to Dijon, where she opened a café on Rue Lamonnoye: the Café du Petit Théâtre, later renamed L’Entracte. It was there that Francine met a plastering contractor who would become her husband. On 25 May 1926, a day after her 20th birthday, she married Joel Arséne Olivier Boulot (1889–1973) in Dijon. She remained independent even after her husband’s passing, and it wasn’t until the age of 101 that she moved into the L’Espérance residence in Dijon.

At 109, her daughter Nicole Mary was 88 years old, and she had four great-great-grandchildren—the eldest of whom was nine.

Francine Boulot passed away in Dijon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France, on 17 November 2016, at the age of 110 years, 177 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO). This validation is yet to be recognized by LongeviQuest.

ATTRIBUTION

* Marie Augusta Francine BAUDOT – geneanet

* “Son secret ? « Une vie simple et saine »” – Le Bien Public, 7 May 2014

* “Dijon : Francine Boulot, doyenne de Côte-d’Or ?” – Le Bien Public, 29 May 2015

GALLERY