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Denmark’s oldest woman dies at 110

Denmark’s oldest woman died on Friday at the age of 110 after a life filled with hard work and abstention from vices.

When Marie Elisabeth Børsting Jensen was born on June 5th, 1904, King Christian IX was ruling the land, Danish women were eleven years from having the right to vote and Denmark still had ownership over islands in the West Indies. 
 
When Jensen died on Friday at the age of 110, she had lived through two world wars and 26 Danish prime ministers.
 
She had also earned herself the title of Denmark's oldest living person, but her family reported on Monday that that distinction has come to a peaceful end. According to the family's report to TV2 Midwest, Jensen died Friday evening in her home in the northwestern Jutland town of Sevel. 
 
Jensen said in previous interviews that she attributed her long life to working since she was a very young girl and refraining from smoking and excess drinking. Genes didn’t hurt either. She had two aunts who both lived to be 105 and Jensen leaves behind a younger sister who is 98. 
 
With Jensen’s death, Berlingske reports that Denmark’s oldest resident is now 109-year-old Signe Højer. The oldest living Danish man is Georg Ingwersen Jensen, who will turn 109 in June. 
 
The oldest living person in Europe is 115-year-old Italian Emma Morano, who attributes her longevity to eating raw eggs and getting a lot of sleep. Just two weeks ago, France’s oldest man, 110-year-old Philippe Vocanson, died after a lifetime of adhering to a diet heavy on cheese and chocolate. Neighbouring Sweden lost its oldest resident in December while south of the border in Germany, a 112-year-old woman died in September.

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