AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch woman who swears by a daily helping of herring for a healthy life celebrated her 115th birthday on Wednesday as the oldest living person on record.

 

 

Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, a former needlework teacher, was born in 1890, the year Sioux Indians were massacred by the U.S. military at the Battle of Wounded Knee.

 

 

The passionate soccer fan celebrated her birthday in a nursing home in the northern Dutch town of Hoogeveen.

 

 

"She eats a piece of herring every day because it's good for the health," said Johan Beijering, director of the Westerkim nursing home. "She is still mentally full of vitality."

 

 

The daughter of a headmaster, Van Andel-Schipper was born in the town of Smilde in the northern Netherlands on June 29, 1890.

 

 

Also known as Hennie, she married a tax inspector in the 1930s and was forced to sell her jewellery to buy food during the German occupation in World War Two.

 

 

"A scan of our archive reveals that Hennie is also older than the Guinness World Records holder for the oldest man living, which makes her the oldest person in the world," said Guinness World Records book editor Craig Glenday.

 

 

The world's oldest living man on record, Emiliano Mercado Del Toro, lives in Puerto Rico. He was born on August 21, 1891.

 

 

The record for the longest life is held by 122-year-old French woman Jeanne-Louise Calment who died in 1997, according to Guinness World Records (www.guinnessworldrecords.com).

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050629/80/fmaer.html

 

well done 2 her!!! and happy birthday 2 her. LOL

I have one word to say about this picture... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK~! LOL

Wow 115!

Happy Birthday to her!

OMG! 115!? Now that's really old.

i feel 210 yrs old

I am so sorry I just thought that it was an old man at first.

I have one word to say about this picture... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK~!    LOL

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Well, for 115, I'd say she looks pretty good LOL, even though I thought it was a man at first glance

OMG!????  115!????? Now that's really old. ???? ???? ????

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OMG!!!!

I agree that is pretty old and y do u feel 210 yrs old Temp? May I ask? Oh and by the way Happy birthday.

Edited July 24, 200521 yr by Creme

that'd suck to live that long. With all the people you love and your kids already dead. That'd suck. he must of done something reeeeeeeallly bad to deserve that.

It's a she

 

LOL im sorry.

i dunno why i feel 210 yrs old maybe im gettin sick of all the sad ppl online

Edited July 25, 200521 yr by michealjacksonisinnocent

i would want to die before then. i wouldnt want to spend my life living like that, she wont be able to do anything herself theres just no point to life when your that old. all the funs gone!!

i dunno why i feel 210 yrs old maybe im gettin sick of all the sad ppl online

 

 

all the sad people online? LMAO

this is funn coming from you.

Well good on her i say.

Keep livin 4 another 115 years, LOL

An extra from the Thriller video?

LOL maybe

wow thats crazy. i wanna live and b older than her LMAO i never wanna die. and u know what else? i'll meet so many ppl and when i finally die and go wherever dead ppl go i'll look at them stick my tongue out and say "haha i lived longer than u" and then i'll point at ppl and say "ooooo i met u once but u died cuz ur so cheap"