BIOGRAPHY

André Ludwig was born in the commune of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Seine-et-Marne département, Île-de-France region, France, on 6 June 1912. Ludwig married Yvonne in 1935; the couple had a daughter (aged about 80 in 2015). However, the last time he saw his daughter was when she was aged 20.

In 1939, he was mobilized for World War II. In 1940, he was made a prisoner in Épinal (Vosges department, Grand Est), and was deported to Poland. In 1942, he escaped but was caught again, and spent 40 more days in jail. He was sent to a labor camp in Germany, but managed to escape again, and joined the Zone libre (in France) to shelter his family. He also joined the French Resistance in the east of the country. Ludwig finished his career as a middle manager, retired in 1972, and moved with his wife to Longué-Jumelles.

His wife passed away in 2012, aged 99. In 2015, he moved into a nursing home.

RECOGNITION

His age was verified by Cyril Depoudent of the Les Grands Centenaires Français, and validated by the ESO on 19 June 2022.

At the time of his passing, there was a belief that he was the oldest living man in France and Europe. Following the death of 110-year-old José Van Zandijcke on 28 December 2022, Ludwig was thought to have become the oldest living man in France. On 22 February 2023, after the passing of 110-year-old Hans Schornack from Germany, Ludwig was believed to have become the oldest living man in Europe. However, in June 2024, it was revealed that the recently deceased Georges Thomas from France was actually older than Ludwig and had outlived him. As a result, Ludwig was the second-oldest living man in France at the time of his passing.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Longué-Jumelles. Les 107 ans d’André Ludwig” – Ouest-France, 7 June 2019

* “Longué-Jumelles. « Ici, je ne manque de rien »” – Ouest-France, 9 June 2020

* “Le doyen du Maine-et-Loire André Ludwig a fêté ses 109 ans” – Ouest-France, 7 June 2021

GALLERY