Jafar Behbahanian was born in 1902 and died on Saturday in Basel. He originally came from Persia, today’s Iran.
He studied in Beirut before becoming an administrator of the royal private estate in his native country. He also served as a vice court minister there from 1967 to 1978.
When the Islamic Revolution began in 1978, Behbahanian fled to Switzerland and finally settled in Basel.
He had felt very welcome in Switzerland, his wife told the Swiss News Agency a few years ago, on the occasion of his 110th birthday.
Her husband had always lived a very healthy life, she said. He neither drank nor smoked but had worked liked mad.
The couple, who lived in a home in a residential area of Basel, travelled extensively even into Behbahanian’s old age.
But after each trip, her husband had always loved coming back to Basel, said his wife, who is 36 years his junior.
She described him as a man with a positive attitude towards life, who had never complained about anything.
More
More
Grey pride
This content was published on
Switzerland’s older generation in its golden years. With life expectancy increasing, the time after retirement has a new importance.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Oldest Swiss dies at 112
This content was published on
A spokeswoman for the old people’s home near Italian-speaking Lugano where she lived said Rosa Rein had fallen asleep during the afternoon, and had not woken up. On her 112th birthday Rein had told journalists she was in good health, although her sight and hearing were not as good as they had been, and she…
This content was published on
Switzerland has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world, with men enjoying 80.1 years of life on average and women 84.5 years. Only Icelandic men live longer than their Swiss counterparts, although women tend to live longer in Japan, Spain, Singapore and France. Men have been steadily closing the gap on women…
As Switzerland ages, the pension system gets stretched
This content was published on
2016 is an important year for the future of the Swiss old age insurance scheme. Parliament is in the midst of discussing the “Retirement 2020” project, and at the end of September, voters will have their say on a people’s initiative that would require a 10% increase in the amount that pensioners receive from the…
A Swiss girl born today can expect to live into the 22nd century
This content was published on
The government has released its annual demographic treasure trove, including births, deaths, marriages and divorces and much more.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.