Margaret Romans is a Latvian-born Canadian supercentenarian whose age has not been validated by LongeviQuest (LQ). She is among the top 10 oldest residents of Canada, as well as the oldest living person born in Latvia.
Romans was born in present-day Latvia on 16 March 1912. At the time, Latvia was part of the Russian Empire. She could recollect the bombs dropping at the start of World War II. In 1941, she married Heinrich Romans, having a small wedding due to the war and Latvia’s occupation by the Soviet Union.
Shortly after their wedding, the couple were forced to flee from Latvia. They lived in Germany for a few years before emigrating to Canada in 1947. Romans claimed that Canada’s landscape was similar to that of Latvia’s.
Romans worked as an art teacher at the YMCA, while her husband was employed as an engineer. She kept in touch with her former students throughout her life, as well as teaching multiple generations of the same families. She enjoyed travelling, visiting places such as Berlin and Paris.
Romans was widowed in 2002, and lived independently in Westmount, Quebec until the age of 107, when she moved into a nursing home in Sainte-Geneviève, a municipality of Montreal. She decorated her room with her own artwork depicting women in traditional Latvian dresses and the view from her window in Germany. At the age of 111, she is the oldest known living person in Quebec.
Romans was first noted for her longevity when an article was published by the Montreal Gazette the day before her 111th birthday.
