Supercentenarian Profile

Rudolf Buxcel

Born:

1908-09-05

Shabo, Odesa Oblast

Ukraine

Died:

2019-02-26

Bridgman, Michigan

United States

Rodolphe (Rudolf) Buxcel was an American supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Rudolf Buxcel was born in Shabo, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine, on 5 September 1908. He was the youngest of 10 children in a family that consisted of 4 boys and 6 girls. His family originally hailed from Romainmôtier, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, before relocating to Shabo in 1830. His father, Emile Buxcel, was a prosperous landowner, managing 50 hectares of vineyards and 130 hectares of arable land. Employing a large number of servants and maids year-round, the family cultivated substantial amounts of corn and raised 12 to 15 pigs, specializing in butchery, particularly sausages and hams. During the wheat threshing season, they utilized a steam engine and hired about twenty workers, providing them with hearty meals, including good borscht. The family also maintained two stables for horses and cows.

In 1936, he married Ida (1914–2001), and the couple had at least one daughter, Erika.

The family’s prosperity in Shabo came to an abrupt end on 28 June 1940, when the Soviets arrived, seizing their land and all their possessions. At the time, Buxcel was married. He and his family endured five years in camps in Germany before eventually reaching Lausanne at the end of World War II. In 1951, he decided to move to Uruguay to replant vineyards along the banks of the Rio Negro.

In his 70s, he moved to the United States. Despite being fluent in six languages—Spanish, French, Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, and German—he never learned English, even after more than three decades in the country. He commented, “I got there at 73, too old to learn a seventh language!”

When asked about the secret to his longevity, he mentioned that he maintained a consistent routine, going to bed early at around 9 p.m. and waking up at 6 a.m.

Buxcel passed away at Country Manor Care in Bridgman, Michigan, on 26 February 2019, at the age of 110 years, 174 days.