BIOGRAPHY

Salmon was born in Aube, Grand Est, France, on 16 July 1913 as the youngest of four daughters. The family lived in a trailer, and her father worked as a sawyer until he was drafted to serve at the start of World War I. He died when Salmon was 13 months old.

After her father’s death, Salmon and her family moved to Sury-en-Vaux, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, where they were very poor. Her eldest sister later married, the second became a teacher, and the third went to a school for sewing. Salmon stayed at home to look after her mother, eventually being employed as a housekeeper in Paris. In 1940, Salmon mothered a son with a man named Raymond, who was a market gardener.

At the age of 104, Salmon moved into a retirement facility in Sancerre, a short distance from where she grew up. As a centenarian, she enjoyed playing cards, singing, dancing, and getting her hair done.

RECOGNITION

Salmon was reported by Le Berry Républicain at the ages of 100 and 107. She was confirmed on Facebook to have attained supercentenarian status.

ATTRIBUTION

• Reine Salmon a fêté son anniversaire au Club des aînés de Jars-Le Noyer lundi Le Berry Républicain, 25 July 2013

• Reine Salmon (tout juste 105 ans), doyenne de Sury-en-Vaux… La Voix du Sancerrois on Facebook, 23 August 2018

• A 107 ans, Reine Salmon est la doyenne du Sancerrois Le Berry Républicain, 31 August 2020

GALLERY