Fredie Blom

Fredie Blom
Born8 May 1904 (claimed)
Adelaide, Cape Colony
DiedAugust 22, 2020(2020-08-22) (aged 116)
Cape Town
SpouseJeannette[1]
Children3

Fredie Blom (born 8 May 1904?[note 1] – 22 August 2020) was a South African claimed supercentenarian. He claimed to have been born on 8 May 1904, which would have made him 116 years old when he died of natural causes on 22 August 2020. While Blom had a South African identity card listing his birth date, Guinness World Records never verified the claim.[2][3][4][5] He was known for regularly smoking, and was reportedly the oldest man after Violet Brown, a Jamaican, died at 117 years old on 15 September 2017.[6][7][8]

Blom was born in Adelaide, Eastern Cape, and while he was still young moved to Cape Town. A significant part of his family died in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

Blom spent most of his life working as a Black[9] labourer in the construction sector and on a farm during the apartheid period. He initially worked as a farm worker in Cape Town before joining the construction sector.[10] He was illiterate and never attended school during his childhood.[11] However, he could count.[12]

Blom worked installing 'vibracrete' walls, a type of concrete, retiring from that job after he was over 80 years old. His 116th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic was widely covered. He married and had three children, before dying on 22 August 2020 at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.[6][13][14][15]

  1. ^ "'Unofficial' world's oldest man Fredie Blom dies in South Africa". Deccan Herald. 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  2. ^ "Fredie Blom: 'World's oldest man' dies aged 116 in South Africa". BBC News. 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  3. ^ Kassen, Jarita. "SA's Fredie Blom, one of world's oldest men, passes away". Eyewitness News. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  4. ^ "Fredie Blom, survivor of two world wars and apartheid, dies aged 116". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  5. ^ "Is Fredie Blom the world's oldest man at 114?". The Cape Times. 9 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b "South African 'world's oldest man' wants to stop smoking". BBC News. 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  7. ^ Dovey, Dana (2018-05-29). "The oldest living man in the world still lights up on the regular". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  8. ^ Bever, Lindsey. "At age 114, this South African man thinks it's time to quit smoking". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  9. ^ "'World's Oldest Man' Is 114 Years Old, Smokes Every Day". Newsweek. 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  10. ^ "One of world's oldest men marks 116th birthday in South Africa". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. ^ "'World's Oldest Man' Is 114 Years Old, Smokes Every Day". Newsweek. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  12. ^ Genevieve Serra (22 June 2018). "PICS: 114-year-old Fredie Blom finally gets his own house". Independent Online. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Unofficial world's oldest man dies aged 116 in South Africa". The Guardian. 2020-08-22. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  14. ^ "One of the world's oldest men, Fredie Blom, marks his 116th birthday in South Africa". The Straits Times. 2020-05-09. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  15. ^ "South Africa's oldest living man turns 116". Capetown ETC. Retrieved 2020-09-17.


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