Talk:Christian Mortensen

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Why is there a drawing/caricature and not a photo?

In the article there aren't actually any photographs of the man, even though they exist, and instead it's just someone's sketch? It doesn't even say who's it is. Why is this? 79.97.237.39 (talk) 22:30, 13 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Not a vegetarian

It is unlikely that Christian Mortensen was a vegetarian. I am not disputing the fact there have been vegetarian centenarians (there are many) but the sourcing for Christian Mortensen does not support a vegetarian diet.

The original source on the web that claims he was a vegetarian is an old article by John Wilmoth [1] which says "he always preferred a vegetarian diet". No source was given for this statement. This was written before Mortensen's death. The same author later published a piece after Mortensen's death which never mentions vegetarianism [2]. Vegans have since compiled lists of centenarians and put Mortensen on it [3], [4] but there is no evidence he was a vegetarian.

The World's Oldest People Wiki says "Mortensen ate poultry and fish, but avoided red meat" [5], this source is not WP:RS but he does give us a source "The world's oldest folk. What do they know that we don't?. Observer. 10 August 1997."

On his 115th birthday, Mortensen stated "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive, and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time." He did not mention vegetarianism [6]. This source claims "He smokes at least one cigar a week, drinks plenty of water and doesn't eat much meat" [7]. This source said he preferred to eat potatoes and vegetables [8] but doesn't mention him being vegetarian.

Mortensen was likely a non-red meat eater, not a vegetarian. This source claims "Mortensen sleeps a lot, more than 12 hours a day. For another, he eschews red meat. And he's in good health, his doctor says, despite a lifelong love of cigars" [9]. Eschewing just red meat is not vegetarianism.

No newspaper obituaries claim he was vegetarian.

The 2010 book Supercentenarians by Heiner Maier, ‎Jutta Gampe, ‎Bernard Jeune cites Mortensen but does not mention him being vegetarian. It's quite obvious from the sourcing that he was never a vegetarian. Psychologist Guy (talk) 15:19, 4 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]