BIOGRAPHY

Markoff was born in a New York City tenement on 11 January 1914 as the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Max and Rose Markoff. Their surname had been anglicised from Markov. His eldest brother was a victim of the Spanish flu pandemic, with Markoff himself suffering from the infection, but ultimately survived.

Acting on the suggestion of his father, Markoff trained as a machinist. However, as the Great Depression took effect, he took whatever employment he could get, eventually settling as a vacuum repairman.

On 4 November 1938, Markoff married Betty Goldmintz in Los Angeles, California. The couple went on to have one of the longest marriages in U. S. history, reaching 80 years and 10 months before Betty’s death on 21 September 2019. They had two children, Judy and Steve.

During World War II, Markoff went back to his roots as a machinist, working for the military. He later ran an air conditioning and appliances business. In his spare time, his hobby was artistry. He never trained to be an artist, but successfully had a gallery showing at the age of 100.

Markoff, as a centenarian, wrote his autobiography, titled “Keep Breathing.” His first book signing was at the age of 103, at which point he had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

Markoff became the oldest known living U. S. male following the death of Pennsylvania’s Horace Baumer on 30 December 2023. However, supercentenarian claimant Francis Zouein died on 24 January 2024 at the alleged age of 113 years, 23 days, but his age has not been validated by LongeviQuest.

Markoff was the oldest active blogger in the world, still creating blog posts as a supercentenarian. He held this title since the death of Swedish blogger Dagny Carlsson on 24 May 2022, shortly before her own 110th birthday.

Following the death of 114-year-old Pearl Berg, Markoff became the oldest Los Angeles resident whose age has been validated.

Markoff’s age was verified by Jimmy Lindberg, Stefan Maglov, and James Roberts, and was validated by LongeviQuest on 14 May 2024. He was validated with his claimed date of birth of January 11, 1914. However, this represents the youngest possible age, as it is believed that he might have been older. (If any developments are made regarding his documentation, his age will be updated.)

ATTRIBUTION

• Diamond Date: A Downtown Couple Celebrates Their 75th Anniversary L.A. Downtown News, 4 November 2013
• Downtown Couple Both Join the Century Club L.A. Downtown News, 30 August 2016
• As time goes by, centenarians savor life together Jewish Journal, 7 April 2017
• Betty Markoff Obituary Legacy, 1 January 2020
• Column: The secret to a long life? Curiosity, says Morrie, who has now survived two pandemics Los Angeles Times, 14 January 2022
• Column: His long wonderful life is an inspiration, but aging means compromise, and it’s expensive Los Angeles Times, 22 January 2023

See also:

• Morrie Markoff’s blog WordPress.com

GALLERY