22.08.2026 15:50
Ethel Caterham, recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person, celebrated her 117th birthday. Born in 1909, Caterham witnessed two world wars, survived COVID-19 at the age of 110, and made history as the first Briton to reach the age of 117.
Ethel Caterham, the "oldest person in the world" residing in a care home in Surrey, England, has turned 117.
Caterham, who lives at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home, became the "oldest person in the world" after Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas passed away at the age of 116 in April 2025.
Born on August 21, 1909, Caterham has witnessed both world wars.
According to Guinness World Records, in 2020, at the age of 110, Caterham became "one of the oldest people to survive contracting COVID-19."
SHE WAS BORN DURING THE REIGN OF KING EDWARD VII
Caterham, born as the second-to-last child in a family of eight children in England, grew up in the town of Tidworth in Wiltshire.
Noted as "the last surviving person born during the reign of King Edward VII," Caterham went to India in 1927, where she began working to help care for the children of a family serving in the British army.
In 1931, at a dinner party in England, Caterham met her husband, Norman Caterham, a lieutenant colonel in the British army. The couple later lived in Hong Kong, where Caterham established a kindergarten. Ethel Caterham's husband later passed away in 1976.
Last year, following her 116th birthday, Caterham was visited by King Charles III of England.
According to Guinness World Records, the title of "oldest person of all time" is known to belong to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.