Michel Marcel Navratil
| Michel Navratil Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
12 June 1908 Nice, France |
| Died | 30 January 2001 (aged 92) Montpellier, France |
| Parent(s) | Michel Navratil and Marcelle Caretto |
Michel Marcel Navratil, Jr. (12 June 1908 – 30 January 2001) was one of the last survivors of the sinking of Titanic on 15 April 1912. He, along with his brother, Edmond (1910–1953), were known as the "Titanic Orphans", having been the only children rescued without a parent or guardian. He was four years old at the time of the disaster, and was the last remaining male survivor.
Michel Jr. was born on 12 June 1908 in Nice, France to Michel Navratil, a tailor and Slovak immigrant to France, and Marcelle Caretto, an Italian, who he had married in London, England. His younger brother, Edmond, was born on 5 March 1910.
The marriage was troubled, and in early 1912, his parents separated. Marcelle was awarded full custody of the boys. She allowed them to stay with their father over the Easter weekend; however, when she went to collect them, they had disappeared. Michel had decided to immigrate to the United States, taking the boys with him. After a brief stay in Monte Carlo, they traveled to England where they boarded the RMS Titanic.
Michel, Edmond, and their father boarded the Titanic at Southampton, England on 10 April 1912, as second-class passengers. For the journey, Mr. Navratil assumed the alias "Louis M. Hoffman", and the boys were booked as "Lolo and Momon". On board the ship, he led passengers to believe that he was a widower. He let the boys out of his sight only once, when he allowed a French-speaking woman, Bertha Lehmann, to watch them for a few hours while he played cards.
After the collision with the iceberg at 11:40 pm on 14 April 1912, Navratil placed Michel and Edmond in Collapsible D, the last lifeboat successfully launched from the ship. Michel, although not quite four years old at the time, later claimed to remember his father telling him, "My child, when your mother comes for you, as she surely will, tell her that I loved her dearly and still do. Tell her I expected her to follow us, so that we might all live happily together in the peace and freedom of the New World." The elder Navratil died in the sinking, and his body was recovered by the rescue ship, Mackay-Bennett. In his pocket was a revolver. Because of his assumed Jewish surname, he was buried in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery, Halifax, a Jewish cemetery in Nova Scotia.
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