This is a list of long marriages. It includes marriages extending over at least 80 years.

Background

A study by Robert and Jeanette Lauer, reported in the '' Journal of Family Issues'', conducted on 40 sets of spouses married for at least 50 years, concluded that the long-term married couples received high scores on the Lock-Wallace marital satisfaction test and were closely aligned on how their marriages were doing. In a 1979 study on about 55 couples in marriages with an average length of 55.5 years, couples said their marriages lasted so long because of mutual devotion and special regard for each other. Couples who have been married for a long time have a lower likelihood of divorcing because "common economic interests and friendship networks increase over time" and during stress can assist in sustaining the relationship. Another study found that people in long marriages are wedded to the idea of "marital permanency" in which "They don't see divorce as an option". Sociologist

Pepper Schwartz Pepper Schwartz (born May 11, 1945) is an American sexologist and sociologist teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, United States. She is the author or co-author of numerous books, magazines, and website columns, and ...

, the

American Association of Retired Persons AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazi ...

's relationships authority, said that it was helpful to have a spouse who is quick to recover when there are surprises in life. A study of 1,152 couples who had been married for over 50 years found that they attributed their long marriages to faith in each other, love, ability to make concessions, admiration for each other, reliance on each other, children, and strong communication.

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

(BGSU)'s National Center for Family and Marriage Research found that 7% of American marriages last at least 50 years.

Recording longest marriages

The longest marriage recorded (although not officially recognized) is a granite wedding anniversary (90 years) between Karam and Kartari Chand, who both lived in the United Kingdom, but were married in India. Karam and Kartari Chand married in 1925 and died in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

published its first edition in 1955. In the 1984 to 1998 editions, the longest recorded marriages were between Sir

Temulji Bhicaji Nariman Sir Temulji Bhicaji Nariman RCSEd, also recorded as Tehmulji B. Nariman (3 September 1848 – 1 August 1940), was a Parsi obstetrician from Bombay (now Mumbai) who co-founded one of the city's first lying-in hospitals in 1887 and was knighted ...

and Lady Nariman, and Lazarus and Mary Molly Rowe according to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, both of them stated as spanning 86 years. Guinness has since recognized couples with longer marriage spans, with the current world record holders being Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher. Guinness also keeps record of the oldest married couple by aggregate age. Other organizations have created events where they honor couples with long marriages. In 2011, World Marriage Encounter (WME), an American organization that was responsible for making a

World Marriage Day World Marriage Day is an observance sponsored by American organization Worldwide Marriage Encounter, associated with the Catholic Marriage Encounter movement and observed on second Sunday of February each year.

, created a Longest Married Couple Project (LMCP), where they pick a couple with a long marriage and honor them on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

. They have since expanded the awards to representatives in each of the 50 states, although the candidates selected are not necessarily the ones with record-setting marriages. Starting in 2004, the

Louisiana Family Forum Louisiana Family Forum (LFF) is a social conservative non-profit group based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The organization supports Louisiana's covenant marriage law and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. The group's stated mission is to "persua ...

(LFF) has honored its own annual list of long-time married couples in that particular state, beginning with George and Germaine Briant.

List of marriages reported to be more than 80 years

* * , - bgcolor="99FF99" , Roger Lee Kunkle
Beverly B. (née Robinson) Kunkle , 6 August 1943 , , , Ohio, United States , , , - , Allen John Frandsen
Evelyn (née Mackay) Frandsen , 30 March 1942 , , 5 September 2022
(Allen John) , Centerfield, Utah, United States , Recognized by the Utah governor's office as the longest-married couple in the state , , - , Jón Albert Magnússon
Rita Rona Magnússon , 14 July 1940 , , 19 October 2020
(Jón Albert) ,

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

, Denmark , , , - , Henry W. Hoell Sr.
Rosa (née Gurganus) Hoell , 28 April 1941 , , 16 June 2021
(Rosa) , North Carolina, United States , , , - , Jack Bare
Joan Bare , 3 August 1939 , , 10 September 2019
(Jack) ,

Codsall Codsall is a large village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated 4.5 miles northwest of the city of Wolverhampton and 13 miles east-southeast of Telford. It forms part of the boundary of the Staffordshi ...

, United Kingdom , Britain's 'longest married couple' until 2020 , , - , Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Hartley
Drusilla Orlena (née Keith) Hartley , 24 November 1875 , , 26 December 1955
("Ben") , Idaho, United States , "Nation's Longest Marriage" , , - , Warren Leslie MacQuarrie
Clara Wilma MacQuarrie , 15 September 1942 , , 16 October 2022
(Clara Wilma) , Fairfield, California, United States , , , - bgcolor="99FF99" , Andrew Paul Kowalczyk
Bertha (née Burnham) Kowalczyk , 1 January 1944 , , ,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, United States , He is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

veteran and electrical engineer , , - , Peter Mascolo
Anna (née DiTuccio) Mascolo , 23 April 1928 , , 2 May 2008
(Peter) , Connecticut, United States , They were the parents of actor

Joseph Mascolo Joseph Peter Mascolo (March 13, 1929 – December 8, 2016) was an American musician and dramatic actor. During his long career, he acted in numerous motion pictures and television series. He played villain Stefano DiMera on NBC's soap opera ''Da ...

, , - , Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages
Colette Marcelle Léonie (née Llaurens) Soulages , 24 October 1942 , , 25 October 2022
(Pierre Jean Louis Germain) ,

Sète Sète (; oc, Seta, ), also historically spelt ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises ...

, France , He was an artist whose abstract works are in many modern art museums ,

Notes

References

{{Longevity long marriages

Marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

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