Aarne Arvonen
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| Aarne Arvonen | |
 Aarne Arvonen pictured in 2006 at age 109 by Seppo Linnaluoto
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| Born | August 4, 1897 Helsinki, Finland |
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| Residence | Järvenpää, Finland |
| Known for | Oldest living person in Finland and last surviving Finnish World War I-era veteran |
| Spouse(s) | Sylvi Emilia Salonen (died in 1938) |
Aarne Armas "Arska" Arvonen (born August 4, 1897) is, at age 111, a Finnish supercentenarian and, since the death of 110-year-old Elsa Tilkanen on December 5, 2006, the oldest living person in Finland. Arvonen is also the last living person in Finland born in the 1890s. He is the third-oldest man in Europe since the death of 110-year-old Frenchman Aimé Avignon, on August 23, 2007. He also became the eighth-oldest man in the world upon the death of American Walter H. Seward on September 14, 2008.
He was born in Helsinki and is the last surviving veteran of the Finnish Civil War of 1918, serving for the Red Guard. He later lived in Kallio, Helsinki, and had two daughters, Irma and Paula, with his wife Sylvi Emilia Salonen. At this time he was a smoker. His wife died in 1938, and that year he moved to Järvenpää, where he currently lives in the Vanhankylänniemi rest home.[1] In the summer of 2005, Arvonen was still living in a house he built himself. Soon afterwards, however, he was hospitalized due to nephritis. He recovered from the inflammation and, as of 2008, his health is good, but he has lost his sight and must use a hearing aid.
Arvonen has been interested in astronomy since his childhood, and in 1921 he became a founding member of the Finnish amateur astronomy association Ursa. His membership has lasted nearly 87 years. He visited London during his centenary celebrations in 1997, and celebrated his 111th birthday in 2008 with his family, but skipped his yearly trip to the local McArthur pub, making it a low key affair.[2]
As of September 2008, Arvonen ranks among the 20 oldest verified European men ever.
[edit] See also
- List of living supercentenarians
- List of the verified oldest men
- Oldest people
- Supercentenarian
- Surviving veterans of World War I
