After the death of Roger Auvin at the age of 111, the most likely new dean of the French is Marcel Meys, a valiant 110-year-old man who "of course" still lives alone at his home in Saint-Romain-en-Gal, in the Rhone. Marcel Meys was born on July 12th, 1909 in Saint-Julien-de-l'Herms, in Isère, and it is to date "the oldest centenary known", explains to the AFP Laurent Toussaint, an enthusiast of statistics has become over the years a recognized expert on centenarians.
"98% chance" that he is the new Dean
There is therefore according to him "98% of chances" that it is about the new dean of the French even if it could happen in very rare cases that the mediatization of a probable dean pushes another, hardly more old, to manifest. Contacted on the phone by AFP, Marcel Meys has dropped in an alert tone. Do you still live at home? "Of course, I live on my own," he retorted. "From time to time, there is a friend who passes by." "I know it from the mayor, but I'm proud of it because there is only one (centenary)," he says.
Marcel Meys, who has been a paramedic and has lived both World Wars, hears and sees "with difficulty" today. He prefers to stay away from media requests. This summer, while receiving the regional daily Le Dauphiné released for his birthday, he confided: "I feel that the end is coming in. But when? We do not know." And he remembered the death of his father at 63, who was then considered an "old man". "Now it would be a young man."
The oldest of the French is still Sister André, Lucille Randon, 115 years old and living in Toulon. "She is also Dean of Europe and Vice Dean of the World," said Lawrence Toussaint, adding that a Japanese is one year older than she. No official body awards the "title" of Dean in France.