{{Short description|American supercentenarian (1896–2012)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Besse Cooper | image = Besse Cooper.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Cooper in 2011 | birth_name = Besse Berry Brown | birth_date = {{birth-date|August 26, 1896}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|Sullivan County, Tennessee, U.S.}} | death_date = {{death date|2012|12|04}}<br />(aged {{age in years and days|1896|8|26|2012|12|04}})<ref name=Farewell2012>{{cite web|url=http://loganville.patch.com/articles/world-s-oldest-woman-dies-at-116|title=World's Oldest Woman Dies at 116|work=Loganville-Grayson Patch|date=December 4, 2012|access-date=December 5, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111071559/http://loganville.patch.com/articles/world-s-oldest-woman-dies-at-116|archive-date=January 11, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=BBCDec2012>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20604191|title=World's 'oldest person' Besse Cooper dies aged 116|publisher=BBC|date=December 5, 2012|access-date=December 5, 2012}}</ref> | death_place = {{nowrap|Monroe, Georgia, U.S.}} | occupation = | known_for = Oldest living person from June 21, 2011 to December 4, 2012 | title = | education = | alma_mater = East Tennessee State Normal School (graduated 1916) | spouse = {{marriage|Luther Cooper|1924|1963|reason=died}} | children = 4 }}
'''Besse Berry Cooper''' (née '''Brown'''; August 26, 1896 – December 4, 2012)<ref name=BBCDec2012/> was an American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest living person from June 21, 2011 until her death in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/04/us/georgia-oldest-person-dies/index.html|title = World's oldest person dies at age 116|website = CNN|date = December 5, 2012}}</ref>
==Early life, education and career== Cooper was born Besse Berry Brown in Sullivan County, Tennessee, on August 26, 1896, the third of eight children born to Richard Brown (1861–1932) and Angeline Berry (1866–1927).<ref name=trib>{{cite news |title=Oldest American dies |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=March 9, 2010 |agency=Associated Press |page=3}}</ref> As a child, she did well in school and was an avid reader.<ref name=Bible2004>{{cite web|last=Dennis|first=Joe|title=Cooper marks 108th birthday|url=http://www.waltontribune.com/news/article_c19b5fe1-a077-5d9e-a5c5-c7f676011a31.html|work=Walton Tribune|date=August 29, 2004|access-date=August 30, 2012}}</ref> She graduated from East Tennessee State Normal School (now East Tennessee State University) in 1916. It was during this period she became a suffragist,<ref>{{cite web |title=World's oldest person dies at age 116 |date=2012-12-05 |website=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408002348/https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/04/us/georgia-oldest-person-dies/index.html |archive-date=2023-04-08 |url-status=live |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/04/us/georgia-oldest-person-dies/index.html}}</ref> and was a teacher in Tennessee before moving to Georgia in 1917.<ref name="Johnson City Press">{{cite web |url=http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=86088 |title=World's oldest person is a graduate of what is now ETSU |date=February 1, 2011 |access-date=October 4, 2012 |newspaper=Johnson City Press |author=Brooks, James |archive-date=October 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001162652/http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=86088 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She taught in Between, Georgia, until 1929.
==Later life== She married Luther Cooper in 1924, and had four children with him. Luther died aged 68 in December 1963. Following her husband's death, Cooper lived alone on their farm until 2001, when she moved into a nursing home at the age of 105.<ref name=walton/><ref name=cent>{{cite news|title=Birthday kiss for a centenarian|date=August 27, 2009|newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |page=B1}}</ref> She spent her final years in Monroe, Georgia.<ref>[http://waltontribune.com/news/article_436636a4-5a53-11e0-b9d8-001cc4c002e0.html "Governor visits Besse"]. ''Walton Tribune''. March 30, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2012.</ref> Cooper died of respiratory failure on December 4, 2012, after contracting stomach flu.<ref name=Diesat116>{{cite magazine|url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/05/besse-cooper-worlds-oldest-person-dies-at-age-116/|title=Besse Cooper, World's Oldest Person, Dies at Age 116|magazine=Time|date=December 5, 2012|access-date=July 6, 2013}}</ref>
==Longevity== Cooper became Georgia's oldest resident on January 19, 2009, following the death of 113-year-old Beatrice Farve.<ref name=walton>{{cite news|url=http://waltontribune.com/news/article_993334d0-78f8-5e99-bf5d-d937e33a4e4a.html|title=At 111, she's second oldest in Georgia|author=Milligan, Stephen |work=Walton Tribune |date=August 26, 2007 |access-date=April 6, 2010}}</ref> She was thought to be the world's oldest living person after the death of Eunice Sanborn on January 31, 2011<ref>{{Cite news|title=World's oldest woman Eunice Sanborn dies in US at 114|work=BBC News|date=31 January 2011|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-12330309|access-date=May 22, 2022}}</ref> until May 18, 2011, when Brazil's Maria Gomes Valentim was verified as older.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/8521419/Brazilian-woman-aged-114-is-worlds-oldest-person.html |author=Yapp, Robin|date=May 18, 2011|title=Brazilian woman aged 114 is world's oldest person|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=August 16, 2012}}</ref> On June 21, 2011, Maria Gomes Valentim died, and Cooper became the world's oldest living person.<ref name=Sweet116>{{cite web|last=Swanepoel|first=Sharon|url=http://loganville.patch.com/articles/happy-sweet-116th-birthday-to-the-worlds-oldest-living-person|title=Sweet 116th Birthday Wishes to the World's Oldest Living Person|work=Loganville-Grayson Patch|date=August 26, 2012|access-date=August 27, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831063153/http://loganville.patch.com/articles/happy-sweet-116th-birthday-to-the-worlds-oldest-living-person|archive-date=August 31, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Cooper reportedly attributed her longevity to "minding her own business" and avoiding junk food.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://waltontribune.com/news/article_44f23e42-3314-11e1-a443-001871e3ce6c.html|title=A look back at 2011|newspaper=Walton Tribune |date=January 1, 2012|access-date=January 20, 2012}}</ref>
At the time of her 116th birthday in August 2012, Cooper had four children, 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.<ref name=Grandchildren>{{cite news |title=Cooper continues to make history|url=http://www.waltontribune.com/news/article_b5441776-f135-11e1-bffb-001a4bcf887a.html |work=Walton Tribune |date=August 29, 2012|access-date=February 7, 2013|author=Milligan, Stephen}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bridge naming for World's oldest person |url=http://www.waltontribune.com/news/article_a1e526cc-ebe8-11e1-9f2f-0019bb2963f4.html |work=Walton Tribune |date=August 22, 2012 |author=Schwartz, Robbie|access-date=June 26, 2013}}</ref> In July 2012, a proposal was advanced to name a Georgia bridge in Cooper's honor; a bridge in Between, Georgia, was named Besse Brown Cooper Bridge on August 24, 2012.<ref name=Sweet116/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://waltontribune.com/news/article_ab297cd2-c20e-11e1-bdfe-001a4bcf887a.html|title=Effort to name bridge for Besse Cooper|work=Walton Tribune|date=July 1, 2012|access-date=July 31, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://loganville.patch.com/articles/dedication-of-besse-cooper-bridge-scheduled-for-friday|title=Dedication of Besse Cooper Bridge Scheduled for Friday|work=Loganville-Grayson Patch|date=August 23, 2012|access-date=February 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waltontribune.com/news/article_5affc5c0-ee1b-11e1-85e5-001a4bcf887a.html|title=Bridge dedicated to world's oldest person|work=Walton Tribune|date=August 24, 2012|access-date=August 25, 2012}}</ref> In October 2013, Cooper's grandson Paul Cooper founded the Besse Brown Cooper Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "providing financial, legal, medical and public relations support" for supercentenarians worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bessebrowncooper.org/about_us.html|title=About us|publisher=Besse Brown Cooper Foundation|year=2013|access-date=October 20, 2014|archive-date=October 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026091303/http://www.bessebrowncooper.org/about_us.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==See also== *Oldest people *100 oldest American people ever *List of the verified oldest people
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.bessebrowncooper.org Besse Brown Cooper Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224015451/http://www.bessebrowncooper.org/ |date=February 24, 2020 }}, a nonprofit support organization for supercentenarians founded by Cooper's grandson
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Besse}} Category:1896 births Category:2012 deaths Category:East Tennessee State University alumni Category:People from Sullivan County, Tennessee Category:People from Walton County, Georgia Category:American supercentenarians Category:American women centenarians Category:Women supercentenarians Category:People from Monroe, Georgia Category:People from Kingsport, Tennessee Category:Oldest verified living person titleholders