The deaths of two centenarians in the United States, one last year and one last week, have made Goldie Michelson, a 113-year-old Jewish woman, the oldest-known American and oldest-known Jew.
After the death of 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt-Jones on May 13, the New York Daily News reported that Michelson, of Worcester, Massachusetts, had become the oldest living American.
The death last year of another Goldie, 114-year-old Goldie Steinberg, also made Michelson the world’s oldest living Jew.
Michelson was born in Russia in 1902 and immigrated with her family to the United States at age 2. Her father, Max, was a medical student in Russia who opened up a dry-goods store in Worcester, about an hour from Boston.
She attended the Women’s College of Brown University and received a master’s degree in sociology from Clark University in Worcester. Her thesis was “A Citizenship Survey of Worcester Jewry” and examined why many of the city’s older Jewish-immigrant residents did not pursue American citizenship or learn English.
She told the Worcester Telegram in 2012 that her thesis was inspired by her time working with Jewish women’s organizations, such as Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. Michelson was also active in other community groups, including one that supported the founding of Brandeis University.
Michelson credits her longevity to walking.
“It never occurred to me that I would live this long,” Michelson told Clark University’s magazine in 2012. “I just went on and on, and I’ve loved it.”
The world’s oldest person is 116-year-old Italian Emma Morano-Martinuzzi, according to the Daily News. The world’s oldest man is 112-year-old Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland in 1903 and now lives in Israel. — jta