Violet Brown (née Mosse; 10 March 1900 – 15 September 2017) was a Jamaican supercentenarian who was the oldest verified living person in the world for five months, following the death of Emma Morano on 15 April 2017 until her own death at the age of 117 years, 189 days on 15 September 2017. She is the fifth oldest person in recorded history and along with Nabi Tajima of Japan, was one of the last two living people known to have been born in the 19th century.

Early life

Brown was one of four children born to John Mosse, who was a sugar boiler, and Elizabeth Riley. She was baptized at the age of 13 into the Baptist Church. She married Augustus Gaynor Brown, with whom she had one daughter. She had six children in total, four of whom were still living at the time of her death in 2017.

Longevity

Brown indicated in an April 2017 interview with The Jamaica Observer that she was healthier than her five remaining children and that she had no ailments.

When asked about the reasons for her longevity, Brown claimed that there is no secret formula to her long life, telling the Jamaica Gleaner: "Really and truly, when people ask what I eat and drink to live so long, I say to them that I eat everything, except pork and chicken, and I don't drink rum and dem tings".

She was the oldest verified Jamaican person ever and the first verified supercentenarian from Jamaica. Her date of birth has been variously reported as 4 March 1900, 10 March 1900, and 15 March 1900.

Brown was born when Jamaica was a part of the British Empire and was the last known living former subject of Queen Victoria.

Personal life

Brown's first child, Harland Fairweather, died on 19 April 2017, at the age of 97 years and 4 days. He was believed to be the oldest person with a living parent.

Brown died on 15 September 2017 at a hospital in Montego Bay, Saint James Parish, at the age of 117, after being diagnosed with dehydration and irregular heartbeat a week prior. Following her death, Nabi Tajima became the oldest person alive and the last surviving person born in the 19th century.