The following is a list of centenarians – specifically, people who became famous as activists, nonprofit leaders and philanthropists – known for reasons other than their longevity. For more lists, see lists of centenarians.
Name | Lifespan | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
Janie Allan | 1868–1968 | 100 | Scottish women's rights activist and suffragette [1] |
Encarnación Alzona | 1895–2001 | 105 | Filipino suffragette, historian and author [2] |
Albert Jean Amateau | 1889–1996 | 106 | Turkish rabbi, businessman, lawyer and social activist [3] |
Ruth Apilado | 1908–2021 | 113 | American civil rights activist, newspaper editor and novelist, founder of America's Intercultural Magazine [4] |
Melchora Aquino | 1812–1919 | 107 | Filipino revolutionary [5] |
Nettie Asberry | 1865–1968 | 103 | African-American activist, co-founder of the Tacoma, Washington NAACP [6] |
Brooke Astor | 1902–2007 | 105 | American socialite and philanthropist [7] |
Edith Ballantyne | 1922– | 101 | Czech-Canadian activist [8] |
George Barasch | 1910–2013 | 102 | American labor union leader [9] |
Manuel G. Batshaw | 1915–2016 | 101 | Canadian social worker [10] |
William Sperry Beinecke | 1914–2018 | 103 | American philanthropist [11] |
Herman Benson | 1915–2020 | 104 | American union, founder he Association for Union Democracy [12] |
Timuel Black | 1918–2021 | 102 | American civil rights activist [13] |
Grace Lee Boggs | 1915–2015 | 100 | American author and social activist [14] |
Hetty Bower | 1905–2013 | 108 | British political activist [15] |
Amelia Boynton Robinson | 1905-2015 | 110 | American civil rights activist [16] |
Catherine Bramwell-Booth | 1883–1987 | 104 | British Salvation Army officer [17] |
Sybil Brand | 1899/1902–2004 | 104 or 101 | American philanthropist and activist [18] |
Elza Brandeisz | 1907–2018 | 110 | Hungarian humanitarian, Righteous Among the Nations [19] |
Dame Edith Burnside | 1889–1992 | 102 or 103 | Australian charity worker and philanthropist [20] |
Anne Buydens | 1919–2021 | 102 | German-born Belgian-American philanthropist; widow of Kirk Douglas [21] |
Catherine Caradja | 1893–1993 | 100 | Romanian aristocrat and philanthropist [22] |
Fannie Cobb Carter | 1872–1973 | 100 | American integration activist [23] |
Aracy de Carvalho | 1908–2011 | 102 | Brazilian humanitarian [24] |
María Teresa Castillo | 1908–2012 | 103 | Venezuelan activist and journalist [25] |
Naseem Mirza Changezi | 1910–2018 | 108 | Indian independence activist [26] |
Margaret Chant-Papandreou | 1923– | 100 | Greek-American women's rights activist and former First Lady of Greece [27] |
Guy Charmot | 1914–2019 | 104 | French military doctor and resistance member during World War II [28] |
Al H. Chesser | 1914–2016 | 102 | American labor union leader [29] |
Leonora Cohen | 1873–1978 | 105 | British suffragette [30] |
Annie Lee Cooper | 1910–2010 | 100 | African-American civil rights activist [31] |
John Craighead | 1916–2016 | 100 | American conservationist [32] |
Sir Naim Dangoor | 1914–2015 | 101 | Iraqi-born British philanthropist [33] |
Kathryn Wasserman Davis | 1907–2013 | 106 | American philanthropist [34] |
Dobri Dobrev | 1914–2018 | 103 | Bulgarian ascetic and philanthropist [35] [36] |
H. S. Doreswamy | 1918–2021 | 103 | Indian independence activist, freedom fighter, and journalist [37] [38] |
Marjory Stoneman Douglas | 1890–1998 | 108 | American women's suffrage advocate, conservationist, journalist and author [39] |
Bill DuBois Sr. | 1916–2017 | 100 | American farmer and philanthropist [40] |
Muriel Duckworth | 1908–2009 | 100 | Canadian pacifist, feminist and social activist [41] |
Charles Duguid | 1884–1986 | 102 | Australian activist for Aboriginal rights [42] |
Margaret Dunning | 1910–2015 | 104 | American philanthropist [43] |
Hilda Eisen | 1917–2017 | 100 | Polish-American business woman, philanthropist and Holocaust survivor [44] |
Hallie Ford | 1905–2007 | 102 | American business woman and philanthropist [45] |
Yann Fouéré | 1910–2011 | 101 | Breton nationalist [46] |
Ruth May Fox | 1853–1958 | 104 | American women's rights activist [47] |
Frankie Muse Freeman | 1916–2018 | 101 | American civil rights attorney [48] |
Victor Fuentealba | 1922–2024 | 101 | American labor union leader [49] |
Marian Fuks | 1914–2022 | 108 | Polish historian, director of the Jewish Historical Institute [50] |
Margaret Gardiner | 1904–2005 | 100 | British art collector and political activist [51] |
Andrée Geulen | 1921–2022 | 100 | Belgian Jewish rights and activist [52] |
Miep Gies | 1909–2010 | 100 | Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian [53] |
Annie Glenn | 1920–2020 | 100 | American disability rights activist [54] |
Henrietta Greville | 1861–1964 | 102 | Australian labour organiser [55] |
Lina Haag | 1907–2012 | 105 | German World War II resistance fighter and anti- Fascist activist [56] |
Doris Haddock | 1910–2010 | 100 | American political activist [57] |
John Hampton | 1907–2010 | 103 | American co-founder of Toys for Tots [58] |
Alice Seeley Harris | 1870–1970 | 100 | British activist and photographer [59] |
Ralph Hauenstein | 1912–2016 | 103 | American philanthropist [60] |
Fumiko Hayashida | 1911–2014 | 103 | American activist [61] |
Drue Heinz | 1915–2018 | 103 | British-born American actress, arts patron and philanthropist [62] [63] [64] |
Judith Hemmendinger | 1923–2024 | 100 | German-born Israeli researcher [65] |
Margaret Holmes | 1909–2009 | 100 | Australian peace activist [66] |
Robert R. Holt | 1917–2024 | 106 | American psychologist [67] |
Lucy Somerville Howorth | 1895–1997 | 102 | American feminist activist [68] |
Teresa Hsu | 1898–2011 | 113 | Chinese-born Singaporean social worker [69] |
Johnnie Jones | 1919–2022 | 102 | American WWII veteran, civil rights activist and politician [70] |
Shidzue Katō | 1897–2001 | 104 | Japanese feminist and politician [71] |
Rose Kennedy | 1890–1995 | 104 | American socialite, philanthropist and the matriarch of the Kennedy family [72] |
Ida B. Kinney | 1904–2009 | 104 | American civil rights activist [73] |
Erik Sture Larre | 1914–2014 | 100 | Norwegian resistance member during World War II [74] |
Bob Le Sueur | 1920–2022 | 102 | British humanitarian. [75] |
Evelyn Lett | 1896–1999 | 102 | Canadian women's rights pioneer [76] |
Max Levitas | 1915–2018 | 103 | Irish-born Scottish Communist and labour activist [77] |
Jessie Lichauco | 1912–2021 | 109 | Cuban-born American-Filipino philanthropist and charity worker [78] |
Paul Moyer Limbert | 1897–1998 | 101 | American Secretary General of the YMCA [79] |
Georges Loinger | 1910–2018 | 108 | French resistance member during World War II [80] |
K. Madhavan | 1915–2016 | 101 | Indian independence activist [81] |
Mahlagha Mallah | 1917–2021 | 104 | Iranian environmentalist and librarian, founder of the Women's Society Against Environmental Pollution [82] |
Lambert Mascarenhas | 1914–2021 | 106 | Indian independence activist, journalist ( The Navhind Times, Goa Today), and writer [83] |
Enolia McMillan | 1904–2006 | 102 | American educator, community leader and civil rights activist, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) [84] [85] |
Rachel Lambert Mellon | 1910–2014 | 103 | American philanthropist, art collector and horticulturalist [86] |
Meda Mládková | 1919–2022 | 102 | Czech philanthropist and art collector [87] |
Captain Sir Tom Moore | 1920–2021 | 100 | British army officer and fundraiser [88] |
Mary Morello | 1923– | 100 | American free speech activist [89] |
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch | 1909–2012 | 103 | Australian philanthropist [90] |
Margaret Murie | 1902–2003 | 101 | American conservationist [91] |
Josefina Napravilová | 1914–2014 | 100 | Czech humanitarian activist [92] |
Scott Nearing | 1883–1983 | 100 | American radical economist [93] |
Anton Nilson | 1887–1989 | 101 | Swedish political activist [94] |
Sanzō Nosaka | 1892–1993 | 101 | Japanese politician [95] |
Poornima Arvind Pakvasa | 1913–2016 | 102 | Indian social worker [96] |
Everett Parker | 1913–2015 | 102 | American civil rights activist [97] |
Andrée Peel | 1905–2010 | 105 | French Resistance member during World War II [98] |
Wanda Półtawska | 1921–2023 | 101 | Polish Holocaust survivor and activist [99] |
Veikko Porkkala | 1908–2009 | 100 | Finnish trade union leader and communist activist [100] |
Kayyar Kinhanna Rai | 1915–2015 | 100 | Indian independence activist [101] |
Gerald Ratner | 1913–2014 | 100 | American lawyer and philanthropist [102] |
Nittoor Srinivasa Rau | 1903–2004 | 100 | Indian independence activist and jurist [103] |
Naomi Sewell Richardson | 1892–1993 | 100 | American educator and suffragist [104] |
Jeanne Robert | 1914–2017 | 103 | French Resistance leader [105] |
Milton Rogovin | 1909–2011 | 101 | American documentary photographer [106] |
Isabel Rosado | 1907–2015 | 107 | Puerto Rican independence activist and social worker [107] |
Dovey Johnson Roundtree | 1914–2018 | 104 | American civil rights activist [108] |
Frederick J. Schlink | 1891–1995 | 103 | American co-founder of Consumers Research [109] |
Floyd Schmoe | 1895–2001 | 105 | American peace activist and naturalist [110] |
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky | 1897–2000 | 102 | Austrian architect and political activist [111] |
Bernice Silver | 1913–2020 | 106 | American activist and puppeteer [112] |
Bernice Tannenbaum | 1913–2015 | 101 | American Zionist and feminist [113] |
Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit | 1919– | 104 | Argentine human rights activist [114] |
Lucille Times | 1921–2021 | 100 | American civil rights activist [115] |
Elsie Tu | 1913–2015 | 102 | British-born Hong Kong social activist [116] |
Thomas Wyatt Turner | 1877–1978 | 101 | American civil rights activist, biologist and educator [117] |
Millie Dunn Veasey | 1918–2018 | 100 | American civil rights activist [118] |
Marie Wadley | 1906–2009 | 102 | Native American activist and historian [119] |
Rachel Mellon Walton | 1899–2006 | 107 | American philanthropist and donor [120] |
Mary Warburg | 1908–2009 | 100 | American philanthropist [121] |
Edgar Wayburn | 1906–2010 | 103 | American environmentalist [122] |
Irvin F. Westheimer | 1879–1980 | 101 | American businessman, banker and philanthropist [123] |
Jamye Coleman Williams | 1918–2022 | 103 | American activist [124] |
Sir Nicholas Winton | 1909–2015 | 106 | British humanitarian [125] |
Hazel Wolf | 1898–2000 | 101 | American environmental activist and civil rights campaigner [126] |
Rose Wolfe | 1916–2016 | 100 | Canadian social worker and philanthropist [127] |