BIOGRAPHY

Marie-Jeanne Dressayre was born in Toulouse in the Haute-Garonne department, Occitania, on 30 August 1913. She was the daughter of a nurse and a father who worked as a manager, with one brother and a half-sister. After earning her school certificate with honors, she moved to Paris, where she worked in various fields, including as a laboratory technician, seamstress, and later a postal worker.

Though she did not have children, she shared her life with two long-term partners: her first, Jean, a quantity surveyor in carpentry, whom she met at 19, and her second, Bernard, an upholsterer, whom she met in the 1970s. While she loved her Parisian life, she grew fond of Bagnoles, a town she first visited with friends attending spa treatments. She enjoyed the therapeutic benefits of the thermal baths there. Later, with Bernard, she decided to settle in Bagnoles after retirement, purchasing an apartment together. The couple lived there until 2017. Health issues and her husband’s passing that year, at the age of 90, led her to move into a nursing home on July 27, just shy of her 104th birthday. At 109, though she wore glasses and had limited hearing, she was still in remarkable health and ready to celebrate her birthday.

Marie-Jeanne Dressayre was born in Bagnoles, Aude, Occitania, on 17 May 2024, at the age of 110 years, 261 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Rives d’Andaine. Cent six Bougies pour Marie-Jeanne Dressayre” – Ouest France, 1 September 2019

* “A Rives d’Andaine, Marie-Jeanne Dressayre a soufflé ses 109 bougies” – Actu, 8 September 2022

* “Doyenne de l’Ouest de l’Orne, Marie-Jeanne Dressayre a fêté ses 110 ans” – Actu, 30 August 2023

GALLERY