BIOGRAPHY

Marie Dhauyre was born in the commune of Moulinet in the Lot-et-Garonne departement in southwestern France, on 27 October 1906.

A dedicated schoolteacher, she had a lifelong passion for reading. Her career began in Castelnaud-de-Gratecambe, where she took her first job as a teacher and met her future husband, Louis Joseph Antoine Dhauyre (1899–1976), an avid motor enthusiast. He later left France to work for the Shell oil company in Tunisia. Five years later, in 1933, she joined him. She married in Tunis on 2 October 1933 and spent 13 years immersed in the beauty of Africa—teaching at a French school, strolling along the beaches of Sidi Bou Saïd, exploring the Sahara Desert, and visiting Roman ruins. In 1946, the couple decided to return to France, settling near the place where they had first met as children.

She continued cycling until the age of 96. Since she never had the chance to learn to drive, she made up for it by riding a bicycle. At the age of 107, she lived in a nursing home in Arès. Even then, she could recite lines from Pierre de Ronsard flawlessly.

Marie Dhauyre passed away in Arès, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, on 11 March 2018, at the age of 111 years, 135 days.

RECOGNITION

Dhauyre’s age has been validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO).

ATTRIBUTION

* Marie, Edmée MASSIAS – geneanet

* “Marie, doyenne de la Gironde, a 107 ans” – Sud-Ouest, 4 November 2013

* “Marie Dhauyre, doyenne de Lot-et-Garonne est décédée” – Sud-Ouest, 15 March 2018

GALLERY