Birth
14 January 1905Mont-Louis, Occitanie, FranceDeath
22 May 2021Perpignan, Pyrenees-Orientales, FranceAge
116
Jeanne Bot
Jeanne Bot was a French supercentenarian who was the second-oldest known living person in both France and Europe, behind fellow Frenchwoman Lucile Randon at the time of her death. She was also the fourth-oldest living person in the world whose age had been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG), after Kane Tanaka, Lucile Randon, and Francisca Celsa dos Santos.
Bot was the last known surviving, validated person in Europe born in 1905 and the second to last person born in 1905 overall. Following Bot’s death, Antonia da Santa Cruz of Brazil became the fourth-oldest living validated person in the world, as well as the last known surviving, validated person born in 1905.
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Biography
Jeanne Bot was born on 14 January 1905 in the military barracks in Mont-Louis, Occitanie region, France, where her father was a soldier, she was one of five children. She spent 50 years working as a bookkeeper in a car garage in Perpignan, Pyrenees-Orientales, France. She never married or had children.
Two months before her 100th birthday in 2005, Bot underwent hip surgery which permitted her to walk until she was 112.
Bot lived in her apartment in Perpignan, Occitanie, France. Her hearing was poor, but she was still able to watch television. She received care from her nephew, a nurse, and a physiotherapist. At the time of her 112th birthday in 2017, Bot reportedly had no major health problems and was able to move with her walker between her bedroom and living room. However, by her 114th birthday in 2019, her health had reportedly deteriorated.
On her 116th birthday in 2021, she was reportedly deaf and too tired to read, making communication near impossible. She also had reportedly become frailer, needing a nurse to make meals and clean her apartment.
Before her death, Bot began to become weaker by the day and she reportedly stopped wanting to eat. Bot died on the night of 22 May 2021.
Bot became the last surviving French person born in 1905 following the death of Mathilde Lartigue on 24 March 2018. She later became the last surviving person in the whole of Europe born in that year following the death of Dutch Geertje Kuijntjes on 24 December 2019.
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Bot became the second-oldest living person in France at the death of Gabrielle des Robert on 3 December 2018, behind only Lucile Randon. She subsequently became second-oldest validated living person in the whole of Europe following the death of Maria Giuseppa Robucci on 18 June 2019.
Following the death of Shin Matsushita on 27 August 2019, Bot was originally believed to have become the world’s third-oldest validated living person. However, the subsequent validation of Brazil’s Francisca Celsa dos Santos on 9 July 2020 meant that Bot was the fourth-oldest in the world.
On 14 January 2020, Bot became the fourth French person on record to reach the age of 115. Since surpassing Marie Brémont‘s final age of 115 years, 42 days on 26 February 2020, she has been the third-oldest French person ever, after Jeanne Calment and Lucile Randon. Bot is the fourth-oldest European and third-oldest French person of all-time whose age was validated by the GRG.