Supercentenarian Profile

Mathilde Dupray

Born:

1903-10-31

Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Normandy

France

Died:

2016-02-18

Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany

France

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Mathilde Charlotte Dupray (née Roger) was a French supercentenarian. Her age has been validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO).

BIOGRAPHY

Mathilde Dupray was born in Le Havre in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France, on 31 October 1903. Dupray lost her father during the First World War and nearly died herself at the age of 11 from the Spanish flu. During the Second World War, she also lost her brother.

At 20, she met Maxime Dupray, a mechanical officer with the Transatlantic Company of Le Havre, and later married him. Together they had two daughters: Éliane (1928–1980) and Annie (born 1944). In 1945, Maxime was severely injured in a train accident and needed two years to recover.

Mathilde was widowed in 1977. In her free time, she enjoyed knitting and sewing. Living by the sea in Le Havre, she went for daily walks and remained active well into old age, walking regularly until she turned 100. She ate sparingly, but always accompanied her meals with a small glass of red wine. Her two guilty pleasures were Suchard chocolate and Vichy pastilles. At the age of 111, she had 10 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

Mathilde Dupray passed away in Saint-Brieuc in the Côtes-d’Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France, on 18 February 2016, at the age of 112 years, 110 days.