Leila Alice Denmark was an American pediatrician. She was the world's oldest
practicing pediatrician until her retirement in May 2001 at the age of
103, after 73 years. She was a supercentenarian, living to the age of
114 years, 60 days. On December 10, 2011, at age 113 years 312 days, she
became one of the 100 oldest people ever. At her death she was the
5th-oldest verified living person in the world and the 3rd-oldest verified living
person in the United States. As a pioneering female doctor, a medical
researcher and an outspoken voice in the pediatric community, Denmark was one of
the very few supercentenarians in history to gain prominence in life for
reasons other than longevity. She started treating children in 1928, the
same year as Mickey Mouse made his debut, and by the time of her retirement
was treating grandchildren and great-grandchildren of her first
patients. Early life
Born in Portal, Georgia, Denmark was the third of 12 children born to Elerbee and
Alice Cornelia Hendricks Daughtry. Her paternal uncle was Missouri Congressman
James Alexander Daugherty. She attended Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia, where
she trained to be a teacher, but decided to attend medical school when her
fiancé, John E. Denmark was posted to Java, Dutch Indies, by the United States
Department of State and no wives were allowed. She was the only woman in the
1928 graduating class of the Medical College of Georgia, and married soon
after graduation. Denmark is credited as co-developer of the pertussis vaccine in
the 1920s and 1930s. For this, she was awarded the Fisher Prize in 1935.
Medical career Following graduation, she accepted a
residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to the
Virginia-Highland neighborhood with her husband. Denmark was the first physician
on staff at Henrietta Egleston Hospital, a pediatric hospital on the Emory
University campus, when it opened. In private practice, she saw patients in a
clinic at her home and devoted a substantial amount of her professional
time to charity. She never refused a referral from the public health
department. On March 9, 2000, the Georgia General Assembly honored her in
a resolution. Denmark outlined her views on
child-rearing in her book Every Child Should Have a Chance, published in 1971.
She was among the first doctors to object to cigarette smoking around
children, and drug use in pregnant women. She believed that drinking cow's
milk is harmful, and that children and adults should eat fruit instead of
drinking fruit juices, and drink only water.
Later life On her 100th birthday in 1998, she
refused cake because there was too much sugar in it. When she refused cake again
on her 103rd birthday, she explained to the restaurant's server that she had not
had any food with added sugar in it in 70 years. She wrote a second book,
published in 2002, with Madia Bowman titled Dr. Denmark Said It!: Advice for
Mothers from America's Most Experienced Pediatrician.Denmark retired in 2002
because her eyesight was getting too weak for more involved tasks such as
examining children's throats. Denmark lived independently in her
Alpharetta, Georgia home until age 106, when she moved to Athens, Georgia to
live with her only daughter, Mary Hutcherson. On February 1, 2008, Denmark
celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming a supercentenarian. According to
Hutcherson, Denmark's health deteriorated severely in the autumn of
2008 but later improved as she neared her 111th birthday. In addition to
Hutcherson, her only child, Denmark had two grandchildren, Steven and James, and
two great-grandchildren, Jake and Hayden.
See also List of the verified oldest women
List of centenarians References
External links Keenlyside, Barbara. "Dr. Leila
Denmark's secret: Love what you do." Atlanta Business Chronicle, 24 July
1998. [1] Meyer, M.D., Charles R. "The Graying
Physician". 'MMA Publications', August 2006. [2]
Report on Leila Denmark's supercentenarian status
Newspaper report of her 112th birthday Obituary from The Telegraph