Alphaeus Philemon Cole

Alphaeus Philemon Cole (July 12, 1876 – November 25, 1988) was an American artist, engraver, etcher and supercentenarian. He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of noted wood-engraver Timothy Cole. Until his death, at age 112 years and 136 days, Alphaeus had been the world's oldest verified living man and the oldest living person in the United States.

Biography Cole studied art first under Isaac Craig in Italy, then in Paris from 1892 to 1901 with Jean Paul Laurens and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant at the Académie Julian, and later at the École des Beaux-Arts. From 1952 to 1953, he was president of Allied Artists of America. His first wife died in 1961, and Cole married Anita Rio (born 1873), a singer, and the widow of painter Eugene Higgins, in 1962.

Cole actively painted and exhibited up to the age of 103. Cole's work is in the permanent collections of London's National Portrait Gallery and the Brooklyn Museum, He was also the oldest living person in the United States for seven months after the death of 112-year-old Elzona Maxey on April 25, 1988.

He died in New York City, aged 112 years and 136 days.