Christian Mortensen

Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen (August 16, 1882 – April 25, 1998), known as Christian Mortensen, was a Danish-American supercentenarian who resided in California. When he died, his age of 115 years and 252 days was the longest verified male lifespan at the time, until Jiroemon Kimura surpassed him in 2012. Mortensen was baptized in on December 26, 1882. Besides his baptismal record, other records include the 1890 and 1901 census enumerations in Denmark, and church confirmation in 1896. Mortensen was completely blind towards the end of his life and spent much of his time in bed sleeping or in a wheelchair listening to the radio. He led a simple and solitary life. On his 115th birthday, Mortensen gave his advice for a long life: "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time."