Saturday, May 17, 2014; INDIA - - This WW-II Veteran lives in Azamgarh in the Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in INDIA.
Listing of Incomplete,
Exaggerated, or Fraudulent Cases
(as of Sunday, May 18, 2014)
Saturday, May 17, 2014; INDIA - - This WW-II Veteran lives in Azamgarh in the Eastern part of
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in INDIA.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA writes... This man doesn't look anything like 114 years old. He doesn't exhibit any signs of sarcopenia (muscle wasting) associated with extreme aging. Also, I notice that there's no exact date of birth, only a round year number (1900). This phenomenon is called "age heaping" -- picking general numbers when the actual time of birth is not known.
May 3, 2014; Lima, PERU (Zee News) - - A 116-year-old Peruvian living in extreme
poverty in the heart of the Andes is in the running to become the oldest person in the world. Born
December 20, 1897, Filomena Taipe Mendoza is only three months younger than
Japanese Misao Okawa, who is the world's oldest person according to Guinness
World Records and the US-based Gerontology Research Group.
Peru's Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion says Taipe Mendoza's identity card shows the date she was born. "I am not of the past century, young man, but the other one... I am very old," she told an official accompanying her to cash the first check of a retirement program for seniors living in extreme poverty. "My secret to longevity is a natural diet: I always ate potatoes, goat meat, sheep milk, goat cheese and beans," said the wizened Taipe Mendoza, who has never left her dirt-poor village in Huancavelica. "Everything I cook comes from my garden. I never had canned soft drinks. "I had a very hard life, I was very a young widow with nine dependent children and I worked hard to raise them. Only three of them are alive," the Ministry quoted her as saying. "I wish I still had teeth," she added of her one wish.
The pension means Taipe Mendoza will now get free medical care and receive every month about 250 Soles (US$90).
Mahashta Murasi is a 179 yo Man The Man Who Cannot Seem To Die!
by
Hibz Y
What do you think is the age of the oldest person on Earth right now? 105? 110? What if I told you that there's a man somewhere in the world today who says that he was born in 1835? And, if that were true, that would make of him a 179 year old man, thereby earning the top place in the Guinness World Records.
The man, who goes by the name of Mahashta Murasi, is a retired cobbler from the North of India. He is from a region called Varanasi. From what has been reported by Indian authorities, the man came into this world on the January 1835. According to the data recorded, he came to Varanasi in 1903. All goes to say that he is indeed that old. He retired at the age of 122. That was in 1957. Do you find these numbers confusing?
When interviewed, Mr Murasi said that his grandchildren have died long time back. In his own words, "death forgot about me." He even goes further to say that there is almost no hope left. He actually thinks that he could be immortal. And, guess what, he sure is enjoying it! Well, how true are his claims? The recorded numbers seem to back up what he says. And, that's it. The last time he visited a doctor was in 1971, so reviewing medical files will reveal little information about him.
How much fun is it to live for so many years? Is it worth it? Murasi has not visited the doctor since 1971's; all of you reading this were not even born then. And yet, his health has been good enough for him to be able to live 50 years more after that last visit. According to what he says, he enjoys life. Wow, he must be pretty courageous (if indeed he has lived that many years). But, even his grandchildren died. Witnessing the death of one's children is painful enough. Watching your very own die while you live on brings a tremendous pain, the more so for a parent. Now, watching your grandchildren leave this world, while you're still standing strong That must be worse.
Staying on Earth for so many years, almost two centuries, watching all the evolutions the world went through for that much time, watching people live, die and leave, and still remaining untouched by the "angel of death" That must be an awesome feeling, filling one with awe. For one, I hope that he is not alone
- - Mr. H. Ibrahim Tutuncuoglu found this story on the Internet.
Mr. Louis Epstein comments... We find these numbers thoroughly UNBELIEVABLE. If this man would have been the world's oldest for over sixty years, why would he only come to light right now? Had there been a thousand million million Jeanne Calment's, rather than just the one, this claim would still be far-fetched. The article substantiates none of its claims.
Mr. Robert Young comments... Human imagination exceeds reality. This is another "village elder" longevity myth. That there are so many family members makes it easier to pull off such a charade. This man might be over 100 yo, but there's no way he's 179 yo.
March 30, 2014; Mr. H. Ibrahim Tutuncuoglu said that officials were not convinced of his true
age. Mr. Louis Epstein added, "Any claim to be 129 years old is best disbelieved! This is an age
over 100x less likely than Jeanne Calment's, and about 10,000x less likely than
Jiroemon Kimura's."
December 26, 2012; Ramallah, Palestine - - The head scarf was the only hindrance in the way for the oldest woman in the world to enter the Guinness World Records. 124-year-old Palestinian Maryam Hamdan Ammash, her Sons and Grandsons refused to meet the condition of the Guinness Team for the aged woman to take off her head scarf and appear on TV. [Does this seem likely to you? LSC]
Maryam's family members said that their grandmother who has performed the Haj (Pilgrimage) five times in her life and performed Umrah ten times refused to commit a sinful act even for getting eternal by entering The Guinness Book of World Records.
"There have been serious discussions about Maryam entering the Guinness World Records breaking the record of the French Jeanne Louise Calment who lived 122-and-a-half years. A group from the Guinness team visited Maryam and her family last March to this end," said Mahdi Helmi Ammash, a Grandson of Maryam in an interview with Gulf News.
"Armed with official documents including her Birth Certificate, Identity Card, and other documents, we will not give up our Grandmother's right to enter Guinness World Records for the longest human lifespan even after her death," he said.
Maryam died last Saturday after she lived for 124 years and scores of people from around the world are attending her ongoing condolence session held in her home village of Jisr Al Zarqa'a, near Haifa of the 1948 areas.
Maryam who held a Turkish birth certificate and an identity card which clearly stated that the woman was born in 1888, became undoubtedly the oldest woman in the world. "This fact is beyond doubt and that all officials who paid visits to my grandmother have confirmed it, and this is documented with the family," said Mahdi. Maryam had ten children, the youngest of whom died a long while ago. With four sons and five daughters who survived, she had hundreds of descendants, estimated at 600.
"Maryam's grandsons were grandfathers when she died as the Grandmother of four generations," he said.
"Maryam's relationship with her children, grandchildren and their children and grandchildren was astonishing, knowing them one by one and following their lives in details," he said. "The wise Maryam, despite her old age, was the spiritual leader to all her family members who trusted her views and followed them almost blindly," he stressed.
The woman was known in her village to be totally focused and balanced and she acted as a Pediatrician who provided medical treatment for the newly born and infants. "We keep instruments which Maryam carefully kept since the Turkish rule in Palestine to treat the little ones," he said, adding that visitors from around the 1948 areas visited Maryam seeking treatment which she provided for free.
The aged Maryam was an active woman despite her years and known to be a social entity who visited people on all their occasions. "She used to walk to the people in their houses and refuse to get car drives," he said. "Maryam never believed in technology and lived a simple and natural life."
The aged Maryam strictly depended on natural food, with food made of fresh vegetables her main dish. "She was an expert in herbs which she collected from even the far away farms, chasing certain types of them in their seasons," he said. "None of the family members has any memory of Maryam consuming ready-made food from the markets," he said. "Maryam used to boil the water and drink it only after it cooled down after she left it in an open area," he said. "Maryam was an expert in telling ways people can protect their health and expand their lifespan."
Mahdi said that his Grandmother was an encyclopedia on Turkish rule in Palestine and the British mandate. "Till the time of her death, she used to tell us thousands of stories about the life the Palestinians lived under the Turkish and the Ottoman Rule in Palestine, the British time and the wars waged in the area," he said.
"We feel sorry now after we lost her that we had not documented her stories as she was an eye witness for such a long period of time," said Mahdi, promising to pass Maryam's stories to the coming generations.
No specific Date of Birth was recorded for Maryam. Rather, her family members used to mark her birthday some day by the beginning of each year. "It was a major celebration where she insisted to have all her children and their siblings under her roof for the occasion," she said.
For more details, see the story below dated February 21, 2008.
February 20, 2014; Using the well-known East-Asian date-of-birth counting-method (starting at 1
yo and not 0 yo, as we do in the West), the headline claims "117," but the article says "January
1898":
for China's Oldest Person.
Notice the word "Secret" in the headline, which makes this case instantly suspicious.
Mrs. He Er'xiu, believed to be the oldest woman in CHINA, has died at the age of 117 yo in the country's East Jiangxi Province. She passed away on Tuesday at her home in Wenshui Village, Yongxin County, surrounded by 100 members of her family and friends. Born in January 1898, He Er'xiu had six children. Her husband died 53 years ago in 1961 at the age of 79 yo.
January 28, 2014; This just in from an anonymous Latin website in Spanish. "Descubren la
mujer mas vieja del mundo en Birmania [Burma, now Myanmar] con 173 años." She sure
looks old. but it doesn't mean that she's as old as was claimed, does it?
This picture is not of a Burmise woman but a Chinese woman now identified as Luo Meizhen [c. July 9, 1886 - - June 9, 2013] who claimed to be the world's oldest person at age 127 yo. Her claim was supported by a report from the China Gerontological Society, but the claim as of yet has not gained widespread acceptance outside of China. She was one of the Yao people and lived in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), in a small village in Bama County [not Burma] known for the longevity of many of its residents, including a 106-year old woman and 113-year-old man (in 2011). She lived in a shed with her 63-year-old Grandson and his Son. She was described as a nice, but stubborn woman with a strong character. Luo died of natural causes at the claimed age of 127 on the weekend of June 8/9, 2013, only one month before celebrating her 128th birthday. - - Wikipedia.
So we can now conclude that the author of the Spanish website saw a photo that he or she liked and went on to make five consecutive mistakes (country location, age [twice in error], alive or dead, oldest in the world, ages of children) without any sense of journalistic integrity, a sin worse than sending out trash on Twitter or posting attention-grabbing photos on Facebook.
September 16, 2013; Maftei Pop of Romania, allegedly lived to age 148 yo,
according to official evidence at Cluj. - - Dr. Cristian Andriesei, GRG Correspondent
Ref.: If you can read Romanian, click on
Jurnalul.ro
September 8, 2013; For more details, click on his photo above from the BBC News.
A 160-year-old man claims to remember the year 1895. An Ethiopian reporter claims to
have discovered the world's oldest living man. Retired farmer Dhaqabo Ebba claims to have clear
memories of Italy's 1895 invasion of his country. In an interview with regional Oromiya
TV, he provided so much detail on the changes of power in his local area that reporter
Mohammed Ademo has become convinced that Dhaqabo must be at least 160 - - 46 years older
than the oldest man ever recorded.
"When Italy invaded Ethiopia, I had two wives and my son was old enough to herd cattle," he
said at home near Dodola. He went on to recount his childhood eight-day horseback ride to Addis
Ababa - - a journey of a few hours today.
There is no way of verifying Mr. Dhaqabo's age, but Mohammed Ademo notes that in an oral
society like the Oromo, "every time an elder dies, a library is lost. Ebba is one such library from
whom so much can still be preserved."
Mr. Louis Epstein of New York says, "I thought that claims as extreme as this one died with Shirali Muslimov." [See this alleged 168 yo case below. - LSC]
August 25, 2013; For more details, click on her photo above from The South China Morning
Post.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA writes...
The only good news, from the perspective of demographic science, is that China is at least
attempting to collate all the claims for their country in one place. But they're still accepting
claims at "face value," rather than requiring original proof of birth. That the "oldest" persons in
China are coming disproportionately from non-Han, peripheral minorities (less than 10 percent of
the population) indicates data-quality issues.
This particular woman looks younger than Luo Meizhen did, for sure. But I wouldn't
be surprised if she were 103 (two 12-year cycles off)... she doesn't look like someone 115 years
old, let alone "127".
Note that this article povides a Death Date for Luo Meizhen from Guangxi Province
(June 4th) allegedly born in 1885 and who is said to have lived to age 128, but mistakenly calls
her a "man."
Note the turn of phrase, that says "Seyiti is 127, and if verified by Guinness that would
make her the oldest person in the world." That has the same syntax as the tautology, "If I landed
on the Mars then I'd be on Mars." But nobody has landed on Mars, so why are we even talking
about Mars in the first place. Answer: Local boosterism, all in one week from Bolivia and Kenya
and now China. - - L. S. Coles
Update: Some skepticism by the media at yahoo.com. The firm making the claim says it's based in London, but the English as written on its website is almost incomprehensible. It reads in part, "Carrying the flag World Records is the world's first and only one to the 2012 London Olympics world record world record certificate issued athletes the world record certification organization," (sic). In what appears to be a description of its verification process, it says, "World Records certified organic 999 of its subsequent expansion of the real experts all walks of life." (sic) It adds, "Carrying the flag is the first! Carrying the flag is the only!" (sic)
August 15, 2013; La Paz, BOLIVIA - - According to his Identification Card, Mr. Caramelo Flores Laura, was born on July 16, 1890. Click on his photo for more details from the British Tabloid The Daily Mail.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA explains why we should be concerned about this case...
I thought the myth of Andean Longevity died out in the 1970's [1]...
Unfortunately, the media has shown that it still caters to the lowest common denominator of
public intelligence (or lack thereof). There's even a mention of glacial water: MSN.com
Ref.: 1. Even as long ago as the 1970's, things seemed too good to be true in
Vilcabamba, ECUADOR, a village in a valley high in the Andes mountains. National
Geographic, among other publications, had reported an unusually high number of
centenarians in the village, but Prof. Alexander Leaf, M.D. of Harvard Medical School,
was growing skeptical of villagers' claims to be well over 100 - - and in one case as old as 134
yo. He called upon two American professors to come help determine the truth. They did, and in
1978, after pressing villagers for information and facts, Profs. Richard Mazess of the University
of Wisconsin and Sylvia Forman of U.C. Berkeley released their findings. The entire legend of
long life was no better than myth - - and as bad as outright lies. There was not, they reported, a
single person over 100 in the "Valley of Longevity." The average age of supposed centenarians
was actually 86 yo, and one man who claimed to be 127 yo in 1974 was actually only 91 at the
time. Click for more
details.
We see the typical "red flag" warning signs make us suspect that this is, in fact, a false case:
1. This gentlemen is illiterate;
2. There's no proof of birth dating to the original time of birth;
3. There's no documentation
for this man's age until he applied for a pension (giving him a financial incentive for age
exaggeration);
4. There's an alleged Baptismal Record (which, if it exists at all, could be for an entirely different
person);
5. There's no current ID;
6. He can still walk at age "123" yo;
7. He's a male (BTW, no documented man has lived past 116 yo);
8. His oldest child is 67
yo (that's a huge generation gap).
What's even more disturbing to me is that for a
case like this, with essentially zero percent chance of being true, is that it's being run by a
non-skeptical media as if it might be an amazing discovery. It is not a discovery!
Instead, we realize that the GRG's work in educating the general public regarding human
longevity still has much that needs to be done.
Our team has now identified a link to a Baptismal Record for Mr. Carmelo Flores Laura that reveals that he is only 107, not 123. People who look old may not be as old as they say the are. As an aside, it is interesting to note that Bolivian Baptism Records are now in English on the Internet and date back to the year 1560.
Saturday, August 17, 2013; [12:24 - 12:30] PM PDT; Click for a six-minute Interview of Dr. L. Stephen Coles on National Public Radio (NPR) (KPCC 89.3 FM Radio) on Off Ramp by Mr. John Rabe, Host. (TRT = 5:45 min.)
Mr. Robert Young has added further comments:
There's a reason that Guinness World Records and the GRG did NOT accept a claim
such as this. The media needs to stop "helping" the public find Loch Ness Monsters, UFO's,
Sasquatch, and assorted Longevity Myths. They don't exist. It's not enough that the media
chooses to report dubious claims: it's as if they "push" these stories because they believe the
general public is so uneducated that they will buy the nonesence the media is selling.
Of course, we even see this in phenomenon of wishful thinking in allegedly "scientific" stories
such as: Girl
has condition with Eternal Youth. Click for a video clip Biological Immortality [2]. Actually, this
girl is not growing/developing (much... just 1/5th the normal rate, if at all). But that's no proof
that she isn't "aging." The metabolic processes that lead to age-related damage may still be at
work here. Unless/until we see these people documented to live to 150, I have serious doubts that
this is anything more than a false hope.
Ref. 2. I have worked with Dr. Richard F. Walker, Ph.D. in Pharmacology, who spearheads this research for the last several years. - - Steve Coles
Some things don't mix well... like teaching "creationism" in a science class while at
school. What the GRG is doing is compiling a database of evidence-based human longevity.
Meanwhile, the media is running stories about long-lived "mountain men" whose "secret" to long
life is "eating skunks, snakes, and lizards." See... Daily Star
One reason this case gained traction with the media is that a local Bolivian Official seemed to
support it and was interviewed by representatives from the Associated Press.
But it's not uncommon to have age misreporting in late-life documentation.
Check out this list on
Wikipedia
Even that article "cuts off" at 130 yo, but we can find claims exceeding that in the media: See for
example,
The Daily Mail
Did you notice that these stories always compare the dubious claimant to proven cases, rather
than to each other?
Now, for the sake of argument, let's take a look at a validated case: Mrs. Soleda Mexia
, who was born in Mexico in the year 1899: San Diego Union Tribune
Like a true case, we see the following:
- - She's a woman (90% of supercentenarians are female; the rate is even higher for 112+ cases,
about 92% female);
- - She's limited in mobility, not walking around;
- - She lives in a care facility, not on her own;
- - It's clear as to her identity and which family she belongs to;
- - She can sing (at 112 yo) and was literate;
- - There's actual original proof of birth;
- - There's documentation throughout the life course;
- - The case was brought to our attention years ago, not "starting out" as the "oldest person ever."
However, take a look at one of the gratuitous comments:
Sean Casey - - Top Commenter, Escondido, CA
"She's got a long ways to go to beat Methuselah who lived to 969!"
August 13. 2013 at 2:11 PM PDT
This responder wants to compare a documented, verified case to a religious, oral tradition that,
dare I say, amounts to a myth of patriarchal longevity. Just like those who willfully deny global
warming or insist that the Earth is 6,000 years old; logic and reason don't work for people who
are basing their belief-sets on religious instruction, rather than the concept of the scientific
method, testing, and evidence-based conclusions. Surely, someone who is really frail at 114 years
old won't come close to reaching the age of "969."
However, between the proven cases and the obvious religious mythology is a gray area of
"longevity claims," where smaller myths of longevity prevail. I suggest that it may be useful for
you to read this
paper.
Rarely, in anything, has the evidence been so stark, yet the conclusions been resisted so
forcefully, as the evidence which points to human longevity being limited to a species-specific
lifespan. For humans, the "Calment Limit" of maximum human lifespan is 125 +/- 3 years. The
"average maximum" age of the oldest living woman is 115; the average maximum age of the
oldest living man is [112-113]. In the last 13 years, not a single verified supercentenarian has
reached even age 117. The data does not vary much over time;
instead, it acts as a wave hitting the shoreline, rising and falling but ultimately going nowhere
fast. Madam Jeanne-Louise Calment can be compared to the wave of a tsunami: an
extreme, outlying data-point that is not likely to be repeated any time soon (maybe not even in
the lifetimes of all those reading these words in 2013, unless of course science/medicine were to
figure out how to intervene in the aging process itself).
Update:
Wednesday, August 21, 2013; 9:49 AM PDT; Click for the CNN video clip on this case that aired this morning. (TRT = 2:30 min.)
July 23, 2013; West London, UK - - According to her passport, Sant Kaur Bajwa, from Southall was born on January 1, 1898 in PAKISTAN. She died on July 19, 2013. She lived in the UK since 1969. Her family said they believed she was the oldest person in the world; however, they have not had this officially verified. The Guinness World Records, said that it needed to see a Birth Certificate and a Passport to validate any such claim.
Her Grandson Sanjeev Singh Rai said, "Back in that day, I don't know if they even issued birth certificates, but her passport has her birthdate down as January 1, 1898." Up until her death on Friday, Ms Bajwa was believed to be "the oldest person in the world." According to Guinness World Records, the oldest surviving person is actually Misao Okawa, from JAPAN, who is 115 years, 99 days old. Grace Jones, who is 113, is the oldest person in the UK, according to Guinness.
Ms. Bajwa lived through three centuries, two world wars, and the India-Pakistan partition. "That was a really difficult time for her," her Grandson Sukhinda Singh Rai told the BBC. "To be uprooted from where she was born in Sialkot in Pakistan to Gurdaspur in India was hard."
Although Ms Bajwa's children died before her, she is survived by 12 Grandchildren, 26 Great-grandchildren, and two Great-great grandchildren.
Her husband, Munsha Singh, was killed after just six years of marriage, which meant she had to bring three children up on her own. Sant Kaur Bajwa is survived by 12 Grandchildren. Then, in 1972, her Daughter died from cancer, leaving her to care for her Daughter's four children, including twin boys. Mr. Rai said, "As far back as I can remember she was my Mother.
"My twin and I didn't know any different. She looked after us diligently." The family put their Grandmother's longevity down to a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as her Sikh faith. Son-in-law, Ajit Sing, who is now 86, remembers her visits to the local Sikh temple. "She was a God-fearing woman who worshiped daily and went to the Gurdwara to offer prayers."
Charlene, the oldest Great-grandchild said "she was the glue that has kept our incredibly large family together." Eleven-year-old Pasha said, "Although it's sad that Granny has passed away but I want to celebrate her long life."
Relevant is a comment by Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA...
This is yet another unvalidated claim. The story itself admits that there's no record of birth, and
January 1st is likely to be a made-up birthdate. Often, when dates of birth are unknown for
immigrants to Western nations, a fabricated date of birth, such as Jan. 1st, July 1st, or Dec. 25th,
is recorded, since officials are reluctant to write "unknown" as a date of birth for an ambiguous
case.
Probably the most-disappointing aspect of the media reporting for a case like this is that they
"assume" that it's true, when evidence dictates that we should assume the opposite, i.e., "the
claim is false unless proven otherwise." Click hindawi.com for an article on the
"Myths of Extreme Longevity."
There is a tendency for the media to promote one's village, town, city, or country (local
boosterism) exploiting a shameless lack of skepticism (good investigative journalists are trained
indeed trained to be skeptical). Local reporters also like to sprinkle hard-won demographic facts
into their story to lend it more credibility, as though they know what they're writing about. The
family, of course, has a different agenda and that forms a conspiracy with the
reporter(s)/editors(s) that is very difficult for demographers to rectify once the story goes out on
the Internet and not just to the local constituents that sells newspapers and pays for the reporters'
salaries. The public never gets excited about a false story.
Indeed, less than one percent of claims to age 115+ can be proven to be true. While this
particular London case is still plausible, it is more likely that she inflated her age in order to
qualify for a pension (financial incentive). She could easily be 105 and have added ten years to
her life with the help of her family.
July 20, 2013; Despite the pretentious headline, this claim is extremely unlikely to be accepted by Guinness World Records. The man in question appears to be decades younger than the 119 claimed... 89 yo seems more realistic.
Note: The presence of a "116"-yo claimant in the same district indicates a systematic bias. That the "116" yo is a minority in a rural outlying area is consistent with the hypothesis that age inflation is high whenever literacy is low.
Ironically, the 105-year-old woman appeared to be a possibly-true case (just based on her
condition):
ntd.tv (click for a video clip)
The 105-year-old is far-more deteriorated (confined to bed, sunken eyes, etc.) and her age claim
is much more realistic. But when age-inflated data is mixed in with true claims, the potentially
real 105 yo gets passed over by the media's fascination with finding Bigfoot, The
Loch Ness Monster, or any other apocryphal creature that exists only in our imagination in
realms where contrary evidence is lacking. It goes back to our curious aspiration to keep
mythology alive in the face of our modern scientific society, which is in the process of mapping
the boundaries of the world (There's not much left to discover?). This induces a feeling of
anxiety that many worry about, which may be why turning to fantastic claims in some remote
village is so appealing.
nationmultimedia.com
The authorities in Mae Hong Son plan to nominate a 119-year-old Karen man to the "
Guinness Book of World Records" as Thailand's oldest person. Mae Hong Son Governor
Narumon Palawat visited the 119-year-old Kamu Tongnumchokdee as well
Norjordoh Wanapanich, 116; and Normikho Rattana-arayatham, 105; in Muang
Pam Ville in Pang Mapha District yesterday.
Narumon said after verifying papers, "The 119-year-old Kamu could officially be considered the
oldest man in Thailand." Kamu remains active and goes fishing every day. He was born on May
8, 1894, and had four children - - one of whom has recently died. He lives in a one-story house
on his own and has simple meals of coarse rice, vegetables with chilli dip, and fish. Relatives say
he is healthy and able to fend for himself.
More comments come from Reason cited on David Kekich's blog...
A relatively decent journalist can make anything sound plausible or look good to someone who is
only casually acquainted with its subject matter, even while he or she is omitting vital
information or propagating an outright falsehood - - either unintentionally, due to insufficient
research, or an underlying hidden agenda (where the reporter gets to "frame the question"). As a
general rule, accuracy in the media is fairly low in its list of priorities compared with making a
profit. This is most extreme in what are called tabloid newspapers, where much of the
news is not "fit to print."
So what we have here is a good example of the state-of-the-art in media misrepresentation. All sorts of strategic omissions and outright misrepresentations are made about the work of hard- working demographers/actuaries and epidemiologists and the state of specific lines of research in those areas where we know enough to identify them, so we have to assume that these types of omissions are present in other areas, as well, for which we don't have specific expertise. Yet, the video plays as though it is a well-researched and constructed popular clip, and there's enough truth in it to float all the falsehoods. The good part about science is that it's always "tentative" and subject to the standard of reproducibility and the "scientific method."
July 20, 2013; Mrs. Fu Suqing of Chengdu, CHINA, Capital of Sichuan Provence, supposedly has an "ID Card"documenting her birth date as July 19,1897. She has six children and currently has a total of 48 Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren, and Great Great Grandchildren. She is said to be applying to Guinness for the record of Oldest Living Person.
Mr. Robert Young, Consultant to Guinness World Records for Longevity, warns that this claim is NOT to be taken seriously. Her ID card dates only to the 1980's with no prior proof before that. The oldest Daughter is 76. Does anyone really believe she started having six children at age "39"? Furthermore, her activities of daily-living abilities do not comport with someone aged 115 yo, consistent with our two decades of experience with these longevous individuals. Even though many in the media can't seem to discern between credible and dubious claims, fortunately, we can. The media has a self-interest in promotion of the unusual so as to attract attention, and skepticism associated with real investigative reporting is not high on their list of priorities. For rural outlying areas of the world, we subscribe to the theory that age inflation is directly proportional to illiteracy (and poor documentation).
Right now, Guinness World Records recognizes Ms. Misao Okawa of Japan, born March 5, 1898, as the World's Oldest Woman. By default, that probably means "World's Oldest Person," as well.
Refs.:
1.
skynews.com.au
2. tv.ibtimes.com (with an excellent video clip, where the woman commentator asks
"Why is longevity so prevalent in CHINA?" After which she gratuitously answers her own
question by saying "It must be something in the water." )
3. channelstv.com
July 10, 2013; We may have uncovered a sibling misidentification for two brothers, both with the first name "José" and last names Perez-Rivera born in Utuado, Purerto Rico, but the family now in Daytona Beach, FL sent us as proof (through a local reporter) a Birth Certificate of the elder with the Death Certificate of the younger (in both Spanish and English), (unwittingly?) suggesting them to be one person with the appearance of greater longevity than either one separately. We have encountered this sort of misidentification before.
December 4, 2012; Mr. Tranquilino Olarte Cabiling claims to be 112 years old and is
believed to be the oldest living World War-II Veteran. Cabiling regularly goes to the Armed
Forces General Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City [in the Philipines] at the end of
the month to collect his pension check at the Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO).
Cabiling is not wheelchair-bound and walks with a cane without anybody's assistance. He can board a vehicle and alight by himself. Nobody thinks he is a World War-II veteran as he casually walks inside the camp. "I'm still strong. I need no assistance when walking. My eyesight is clear, no problem," Cabiling proudly said.
He is a native of Talisayan, Misamis Oriental, PHILIPINES and was presumed to have been born on July 6, 1900. The veteran said he was with the late President Ferdinand Marcos when the Japanese invaders forced thousands of Filipino and American soldiers in the Death March after the fall of Bataan. "I'm a Technical Sergeant in the Army," said Cabiling, as he started to walk with his cane toward a waiting free ride for senior citizens visiting the camp.
Click on his photo for more details from The Business Mirror.
October 8, 2012;
Antisa Khvichava was said to be the oldest female on Earth. A native of Georgia
(formerly the USSR), she died at age 134. The woman from the Village of Sachino was born in
the century before last - - on July 8, 1880. [Alleged age and date of birth don't match. LSC]. The
Georgian authorities have asked the Editors of The Guinness Book to prepare a
Certificate to confirm that Antisa was the oldest woman in the world; Georgia On-line
reports a spokesman for the book said "Antisa was indeed older than 132 years."
The long-living woman was an honorary citizen of the city of Tsalenjikh, adds Mir. Many noted that even at 130, Antisa was thinking clearly, enjoyed playing backgammon and occasionally allowed herself a shot of vodka. To prove her longevity, the woman had a Soviet passport and pre-revolutionary documents.
Antisa had 12 Grandchildren, 18 Great-grandchildren, and 4 Great-great-granddaughters, notes BaltInfo. She survived WWI and WWII, the creation and the collapse of the USSR, the restoration of Georgia's independence and the difficult period of the 1990's.
It is worth noting that the oldest resident of India, Parsaram Gurdzhar, died last
Winter at age 125 years. A few months later, 115-year-old Tieno Hasegawa died in
JAPAN. In September of this year, Magomed Labazanov, the oldest citizen of Russia,
died in Dagestan. The man was 122 years.
Source: Pravda.Ru
Click on her photo above for more details.
Note: Georgian birth and death registrations are handled by local authorities rather than the central government in Tibilisi, and residents will sometimes either withhold or provide incorrect information in order to secure government pension benefits earlier than would normally be permitted." - - LSC
Scroll down to see another photo of Antisa at the presumed age of 130 yo...
September 21, 2012; The Chilean Justice Minister said that "don Celino Villanueva's
Birth Certificate was so old that his birth date was written in Roman Numbers." If you read
Spanish, click on his photo above for more details.
September
16, 2012; In 1998, Malaysia's oldest claimant was "141", so 117" as an improvement. However,
this case still appears to be exaggerated, and no date-of-birth provided. Click on his photo for
more details from the New Strait Times of Kuala Lumbur, MALAYSIA.
September 11, 2012; "A man thought to be Russia's oldest person has died at the age of 122,"
authorities in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan said. Magomed Labazanov, a
retired laborer who lived in Serebryakovka Village close to the City of Kizlyar, died early Friday,
the local government said on its website. Labazanov was reportedly born in Dagestan and worked
in a sawmill and later on a farm. He never learned to read and write. The date of his birth has not
been authenticated as he did not have an original Birth Certificate.
According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest person in the world is Besse Cooper of the USA, who turned 116 last month.
The mountainous North Caucasus is famed for its long-lived elders, although the turmoil of the Soviet era means that many do not have documents proving their age. Labazanov was one of the thousands of people in North Caucasus Republics who were uprooted during World War II on Stalin's orders and deported to Central Asia, returning only in the 1950's. Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda said he attributed his long life to a simple diet of corn bread, whey, fruits, and vegetables. "He did not drink alcohol nor smoke cigarettes," it said. Labazanov celebrated his 122nd birthday on May 1st, according to local media. His long life is exceptional in Russia, where the average life expectancy for a man is currently 63. Click on his photo above for more details.
August 16, 2012; Mesa, AZ - - On the occasion of his ostensible 111th birthday, Mr.
Benando La Pallo suggests that his nutritional lifestyle, which includes {Olive Oil, Garlic,
Honey, Cinnamon, and Chocolate}, is the secret to his alleged longevity. Click on his photo for
more details from Channel 15 ABC-TV of Mesa, AZ. However, as Mark Muir of
Virginia reports, we have been aware of this case for some time, even when he was 101, 104,
107, 108, 109, and now presumably 111. We note that he changed his story once again -- he now
states that he was born in NYC in 1901. That may be his undoing, since this fact can be quickly
confirmed or refuted using the New York City Births Database available on-line. His
original claim seemed to be more believable, i.e., his family moved from Brazil when he was
age five in the early 1900's.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA adds...
This story shows how incredibly ignorant the average reporter is. They say he may be the oldest
living American... yet Besse Cooper currently 115 is, as is Dina Manfredini.
They say he is "111," but never once did it cross their mind that he may be dissembling. The
U.S. Public Records Index shows that he claimed to be born in 1910 in the past. There is
also evidence that this man formerly went by the name Bernardo Lapallo. There is a
Bernardo Lapallo in the 1930 U.S. Census, aged 22 and from Cuba. The bottom line is that,
while we cannot prove how old this man is, there are quite a few red flags that suggest this story
is fabricated.
1. He is making a profit off of claiming to be an extreme age and living in a certain way. The
"testimonial fallacy" was exploited by Norman Walker, also of Arizona, who died at 99 yet
claimed to be variously [113 - 120].
2. This man's story changes quite often. As Mark pointed out, two years ago he was "born in
Brazil," now it is New York City. When he was born has also changed quite frequently... 1901,
1910, 1908, 1909.
3. This man doesn't give early, identifying life details that could allow independent researchers to
vet his story. Often, fakers, like Buster Martin, tell a tall tale that is, by nature,
unverifiable... no mention of parents, siblings, or town of birth.
4. This man is in too good a shape to fit the profile of someone 111 years old. Being able to walk
at 111 is extremely rare for a man, but to be that nimble? No way.
By the way, just last year, "110" year-old Andrew Rasch of Arizona died at age 81. It
seems the media in this state is not particularly skeptical when it comes to claims of extreme
age.
As most critical-thinking viewers should know by now, TV anchors are more likely to be paid a salary for their vocal qualities and pleasant appearance on TV, or for their "boosterism" of local constituents (audience) than they are for their precision or skepticism as to the accuracy/integrity of their human-interest, feel-good, warm-and-fuzzy stories. Today's TV news is a mix of breaking news, local weather/traffic, and entertainment wrapped up in an indistinguishable package so as to achieve the maximum ratings in their channel's timeslot. Bandwidth costs money and always has alternative bidders for the same capacity. Advertising space is carefully titrated to pay for the salaries of everyone who is in front of and behind the set as well as make a profit for investors.
August 13, 2012; Warrensville Heights, OH - - Mrs. Rebecca Lanier died today; she
was believed by some to be the oldest person in the world at age of 120. Relatives and friends
have sought to prove that she was the oldest living person, even though her 1892 birth date was
in question. The Guinness Book of World Records declined to recognize her for extreme
age because she has no Birth Certificate or other documentation dating back to the original time
of birth. Instead, Guinness recognizes 115-year-old Besse Cooper of Monroe, GA as the
world's oldest living person. Click on the photo above for more details from The Plain
Dealer.
Mr, Filipe Prista Lucas, our GRG International Correspondent from Portugal, disputed this
claim back in 2006 as follows:
:
Until now, we knew that she was allegedly born in MS, but lived in Greene County, AL most of
her life, that she had two Daughters, Beatrice [born April 7, 1924] and Aline [born March 7,
1928], and that she now lives with her Grandson, Jimmy Chambley, in Ohio.
Here are the 1920 and 1930 US Census matches for Mrs. Rebecca Lanier:
1920 CENSUS (Mantua, Greene, AL)
HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD: Rick Horton, aged 47, Negro
FATHER: Frank Baskin, aged 70
MOTHER: Hastie Baskin, aged 68
COUSIN: Becca Shamblee, aged 14
UNCLE: Hyman Shamblee, aged 68
1930 CENSUS (Mantua, Greene, AL)
HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD: Richard Horton, aged 55, Negro
COUSIN: Becky Chambry, aged 24, Negro, Single
COUSIN: Beatrice Chambry, aged 6, Negro
COUSIN: Alena Chambry, aged 2, Negro
I believe that we have a strong case here, as not only does the information available from news
reports and obituaries match with these Census records, but her maiden name - - and,
presumably, her Daughters' as well - - match with the surname of her Grandson. The only
conflicting information (apart from the age, of course) is that she is recorded in both Census as
having been born in the state of Alabama.
August 19, 2012; We have just learned that Rebecca Lanier was cited as 45 yo in the 1940 US Census, which would make her year of birth 1905. Therefore, this further confirms the age of 106 yo at the time of her death.
August 2, 2012; A Granddaughter from Chicago reports that Argelina de Souza
Teixerira of Brazil and born on December 2, 1901 is therefore 110 years old.
July 2, 2012; It is being reported to us that Gangu of Punjab in INDIA claims to be
116. We do not know his exact date of birth, but the age on his Voter ID Card is said to be 113.
He is a laborer and apparently still in good health.
March 10, 2012; It is being reported that Lu Zijan of CHINA, allegedly born October
15, 1893, passed away on February 20, 2012. While his calculated age claim is 118 years, 128
days, the story actually says he was "119." But this might be explained by the traditional Asian
method of calculating a person's age as "1" at birth. In any case, in our judgement, he looked to
be in far too good a shape to even be 118 yo. This claim now seems preposterous in light of the
article: The Martial Arts Master Who Has Lived in Three Centuries in The Epoch Times
(September 9, 2007). This is a perfect example of the spiritual- or religious-practice
myth-of-longevity. While it's true that exercise promotes a longer life, this case just seems too
good to be true (even though one might like to believe it). For more details, click on his photo
above, if you can read Chinese.
February 22,
2012; Click on his picture for more details about Mr. Oscar Katsukunya, an African gentlemen
from Zimbabwe, who claims to be the world's oldest man.
February 25, 2012; We have just learned that his 1959 ID Card lists him as born on November 12, 1907, which would make him 104, which is far more likely. Click for more details on Wine and Soft Drinks: The Secret Diet of the World's Oldest Man.
February 12, 2012;
The oldest person of Latvia, Ksenija Mituŝova passed away in January about
one month shy of her 113th birthday. She was ostensibly born on February 10, 1899 and died on
January 6, 2012 at the age of 112 years, 330 days. Click on the photo above for more details (in
Latvian).
December 14, 2011; Mr. Zaro Agha, claimed to be 156 years old on this film was shot
back in the year 1930. Click on his photo above for the B&W silent YouTube video
clip. First, he enjoys a massage. Later he dances with a young lady at New York City's Roseland
Ballroom.
December 14, 2011; Click
on the photo of Mr. Javier Pereira above for a B&W silent YouTube video
clip taken in the year 1956, when he arrives at an airport in Washington, D.C. It documents
various scenes of Mr. Pereira posing for cameramen and then being kissed by an airline
hostess.
December 13,
2011; Singapore's oldest person Teresa Hsu was well-known for her role in community work.
Click on her photo above for more details.
December 13, 2011; Born in China, Sum Ying Fung of Vancouver, British Columbia had
25 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Click on her photo above for a video
from CBC News.
October 7,
2011; Mr. John Zadrozny writes... "My Wife's Grandmother liveds in rural Indramayu, Northern
Indonesia. There is no documentation about her age. She doesn't even know her own birth date.
(Relatives have estimated her approximate age based on historical events.) My Wife's Father
doesn't even know his own birth year or date. Officials simply didn't keep track of such things
during that period of time." They don't even speak English in that small village, so
communications are doubly difficult.
September 18, 2011; Mrs. Ivory Ross-Lambert claims birth on September 16, 1899 in
Warren, Arkansas. At age 16 she married Lee Lambert (now deceased). The couple had 4
children; Blanche, William, Moses, and Arbie. There are seven generations living in this family.
Ivory has 20 Grandchildren, 27 Great grandchildren, 40 Great-great-grandchildren, one Great-
great-great grand child, and one Great-great-great-great grand child. Mrs. Lambert claim to be a
Supercentenarian has not yet been validated. The photo above was provided by her Nice, Ms.
Rosetta Van-Pelt.
"Brazilian Woman Claims To Be 121 yo?"
by
Mark Johanson
August 31, 2011; A Brazilian Indian, believed to be the world's oldest living person, is preparing to celebrate her 121st birthday on September 3rd, according to Survival International, an indigenous rights organization working in the Amazon.
Maria Lucimar Pereira is a member of the Kaxinawa tribe, living in the Western Brazilian Amazon near the Peruvian border. According to documents, she was born on September 3, 1890 on a rubber plantation and witnessed the rubber boom, which swept through the region at the end of the 19th Century and wiped out roughly 90 percent of the indigenous population.
Pereira only speaks her native language Kaxinawa (not Portuguese) having always lived in the remote countryside.
She attributes her longevity to several factors: (1) She enjoys maintaining a healthy lifestyle; (2) Claims to have only eaten natural foods from the forest like grilled meat, fish, monkey, banana porridge, and manioc (a root vegetable); and (2) She's never eaten salt, sugar, or any processed foods.
She's never lived in a city and has only traveled to the nearby city of Feijó (population 31,000). These days, Pereira's family says she enjoys walks through the forest to visit her grandchildren and other relatives to tell stories.
Survival International, who identified this woman, says her longevity is a great sign for indigenous people. "All too often we witness the negative effects forced change can have on indigenous peoples," Survival's Director Stephen Corry said in a statement. "It is refreshing to see a community that has retained strong links to its ancestral land and enjoyed the undeniable benefits of this."
Corry is a British Anthropologist and an expert on the status of the Indians of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. As the Director of Survival, he advocates for the protection of the way of life of South American indigenous people - - in particular, those that remain willfully isolated from civilization. Corry notes that old age isn't uncommon in Pereira's village. Community leader Carlos told Survival that out of the 80 inhabitants in the village, four are more than 90 years old.
Most in the community, like Pereira, eat natural foods and don't use soap or any artificial products from the city.
Current Record Holders:
At present, American Besse Cooper, born on August 26, 1896, holds the official title
of the World's Oldest Person. If Pereira's age is verified, she would beat out Cooper by six years,
having lived on Earth a record 44,165 days! [Even assuming her age is accurate, this calculation
is completely gratuitous, as it quickly becomes dated.]
Staff for Brazil's National Institute of Social Security found the elderly lady on a routine check of state birth records. Brazilian social workers are still trying to verify if there were any mistakes on the birth certificate. So far, no irregularities have been found. [Why not send a demographer, not a social worker, to discover if there are any mistakes?]
Last year, it was reported that Antisa Khvichava, a woman belonging to an ethnic Caucasian group in remote Georgia, was the oldest person in the world at age 131. Reports at the time joked that she enjoyed her vodka and loved to play Backgammon. However, doubts about the accuracy of her claim surfaced when it was found that, based on her declared date of birth, she would have had her youngest son when she was 60.
Jeanne Calment, of France, holds the record for reaching the oldest age at 122 years and 164 days. Passing away in 1997, she claimed to have met Vincent van Gogh [1853 - 1890] and enjoyed a life of leisure.
Pereira, who's said to have 10 children and 22 grandchildren, may be on track to take the record.
Editor's Note: Did you notice how to gain credibility for a claim of extreme age, writers with a local agenda sprinkle-in lots of valid claims all known to be true along with an admisison of doubt for other claims that are known to be doubtful, as though they themselves are being perfectly objective. But the only evidence to support their own claim is a Birth Certificate in Portuguese that was dated "October 21, 1985," and not to the original time of birth, as the GRG requires. Click on her photo above for more details.
"Turkish Man Claims To Be 120 yo?"
July 3, 2011; Igdir, EAST TURKEY; A 120-year old man, Mr. Abbas Koca and his wife visit the
local Governor to demand assistance; the Governor is surprised when he sees his ID card and
asks "What did you do for your remarkable longevity?" He says: "Eating honey yogurt, and not
exaggerating sadness." Click on his photo for a video of Mr. Abbas Koca, his 67 year-old wife,
and the Governor." We have no documentation to support this case. The video, however, was
easy for the government to distribute on the Internet, given the ease with which nearly
professional-quality video can be distributed today at very low cost.
July 7, 2011; Turkish speaking, Mr. H. Ibrahim Tutuncuoglu, who originally reported this case, just informed us as follows: "Actually, the man was found by coincidence after he visited the Governor to demand help. Then, as you saw in the video, reporters went to his home and he showed them his identity card. He has 15 children and 102 grandchildren. He says he had seen the Turkish-Armenian war in 1915; so, all of these claims could be lies or just an exploitation of the media by the television interviewers. I think the next step is for the GRC to investigate this case, since they have the time and money to focus on such information, more than I do. [Actually, we don't have the time and money we would like to do such investigations.] As I already told you, it takes only 20 calories to talk to the governor whose telephone number I supplied. [hardly true, multiple international phone calls are very expensive]. Sorry, but right now, I just found another news item saying that his relatives and friends revealed that this man was not telling the truth. The ID Card shown belonged to his dead brother. Click if you can read Turkish. Case closed.
"Russian Woman Claims To Be 121 yo?"
July
1, 2011; Moscow, RUSSIA; (RIA Vovosti) - - A woman who is believed to be the oldest
person in the world, Khabibamal Khametova from the town of Ozyorsk in the
Chelyabinsk Region in the Ural Mountains, has marked her 121st birthday today. The
Governor of the Region, Mikhail Yurevich, and the Administrator of Osyorsk greeted Mrs.
Khametova on her birthday. She has 7 Children, 25 Grandchildren, 34 Great-grandchildren, and
15 Great-great-grandchildren.
"The secret of my Great-grandmother's old age is simple," one of the big family's matriarch's Great-granddaughters says. "She exercises every morning, she prays to God every day, and she has always led a simple and honest life." Click on the photo for more details.
"Brazilian Woman Claims To Be 115 yo?"
May 23, 2011; Elzira Rogelin was allegedly born on September 13, 1893; she passed away on
August 22, 2009 at the claimed age of 115 years, 343 days. Although this may be a true case,
thus far we have only late-life evidence to support the claim with no documents that trace back to
the time of her birth. Click on her photo for more details.
"Cuban Woman Claims To Be 126 yo?"
February 3, 2011; Sra.
Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez claims to be 126 yo. Cuba's Prensa
Latina wire service says she celebrated her 126th birthday yesterday, but her age has not been
confirmed by the GRG Los Angeles record/gatekeepers.
Suggests GRG Senior Claims Investigator Robert D. Young of Atlanta, GA:
"She [Rodriguez] just doesn't exhibit the attributes of a person who would be 126-years-old,"
Young said. "There is no such thing as a 116-year-old that can walk around on her own, let alone
an 126-year-old."
According to Young, there has never been a case of someone being 123, much less 126. "Studies
in countries show us that 99 percent of the people who claim to be 115 years or older were false."
Young says his organization would welcome an official verification submission for the Cuban
woman, but that all signs currently point to her not being born the same year Huckleberry Finn
was first published.
Click on her photo above for more details.
Wednesday,. February 1, 2012; Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez shows a
ring given to her by her Mother when she turned 15 yo, during a party ahead of her 127th
birthday on February 2nd, at her home near the neighborhood of Santa Rosa in Ceiba Hueca,
where she was born in the Granma region of Eastern CUBA. Bautista, who is also known as
Candulia, is assumed to have been born on February 2, 1885 according to the Civil Registry
that would make her the oldest person in the world. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes). She is
now one year older compared with the story above. Click on her photo for a video in which she
eats cake a speaks (in Spanish, of course).
March 1, 2012; Click for more details from The Sun of London.
"Mr. Isaac Brock, Alleged To Have Lived to 122 yo? during the Civil War Era"
February 1, 2011; Ms. Cindy Gaines writes, "Above is a photo of the headstone of my Great,
Great, Great Grandfather, Mr. Issac Brock. He ostensibly lived to be 122 years of age, and I have
heard about him since I was a little girl. I don't know how to inform the public, but I saw that it
was according to records maintained by your Gerontology Research Group, so that's why I'm E-
mailing you. Thank you."
Mr. Robert Young replies, "This is what I would call concurrently family-longevity folklore, a military-veteran legend, and a national pride myth. I note in the associated story that there are alternate years of birth given, including 1805 and 1817. In other words, what proof is there that Mr. Brock was not really 92 (and certainly not 122)? Was he was born in the North Carolina mountains in 1787, the year the Constitutional Convention was assembled to lay the ground floor for the United States of America or was he born in Bunbcombe County, NC on March 1817? Obviously, we have a tombstone put forward as proof, but those carvings were made around the year of his death, not at the year of his birth."
Furthermore, Mr. Louis Epstein writes, "I believe this historical claim is known to us. But it is without adequate evidence ever having been found; if his claim could be documented, he would be recognized as the oldest man in history."
"Antisa Khvichava, Alleged To Be 130 yo?"
July 8, 2010; Sachire, GEORGIA (AP) -- Authorities in the former Soviet Republic of GEORGIA claim a woman from a remote mountain village is turning 130, that would make her the oldest person on Earth. A spokesman for the national register says Antisa Khvichava from Western GEORGIA was born on July 8, 1880. Georgiy Meurnishvili said Khvichava retired from her job as a tea and corn picker in 1965, when she was 85. Authorities visited the woman Thursday in her village and displayed two Soviet-era documents noting her Date of Birth as indicated in her Birth Certificate, which had been lost. Click on her photo above for more details.
Robert Young has obtained copies of some of the documents, and they are all fairly recent...
The passport was from 2008, another record was from 1989. Some stories claim that the oldest
record that exists is from 1965, when this woman was said to be "85." This was a time when the
USSR was promoting itself as a place of superlongevity, including mythical references such as
Shirali Mislimov, said to be in his 160's. "Younger" people were shown, working, at
ages "80-90". It is likely this woman's age was inflated at that time. Given the age of her Son
(70 yo), she could be in her early 90's. So, there's no reason to believe she is 130, and, in fact, it's
virtually impossible. Even the odds to reach age 120 is on the order of 10 billion to one. The
odds of reaching 130 are on the order of trillions to one. It's never happened in proven history.
Let's take a look at the national records for verified, undisputed cases: France: Jeanne
Calment, 122; USA: Sarah Knauss, 119; Japan: Tane Ikai, 116;
(Izumi's claim to 120 is disputed); UK: Charlotte Hughes, 115; Italy:
Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi, 114; The national record for Sweden is 113; for Germany 112;
for Ireland, 111. Statistically, over 1,200 persons in history have been verified to have reached
age 110, but half of them died at age 110 (instantaneous mortality rate = 50 percent). By age 115,
less than 25 persons remained in the all-time data. By age 118, only two undisputed cases exist,
Calment and Knauss. As I have stated, ages such as this claimed for this
woman in Georgia only exist where birth records don't. It's also unfair to compare persons with
no records' to those with records. If we are going to go with a "let's take them at their word"
level, there is a woman in Brazil who claims to be 130 (born February 28, 1880) and the oldest
person in Indonesia is said to be "157". I've said that claims to "157" are about as likely to be
true as "finding a leprechaun, abominable snowman, Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster." The
human imagination would like to believe that there are still places to explore, hidden mysteries to
find. And while there may be some surprises in the sea, it's clear that scientists have a quite good
feel that claims to ages above 125 should be viewed with extreme skepticism. If this woman
were 130, why is her son not 105?
If the family had wanted to have their local claim-to-fame, that's fine. It's only when the story went international that it became a problem for the rest of the world. My main concern is the education of the world population with regard to how long humans really live... and that's [114-116] years (average maximum) with 122 yo being the all-time record. In one sense, the ages claimed have fallen in recent times. In the 1970's, claims from this region went as high as "195". So the people here have reduced their claimed ages a bit, but they're still not believable to a discerning scientist. My main concern is that the general public will believe this. As you can see from here, a large number of false claimants have been exposed as exaggerations, especially in the U.S. See the comprehensive list of unvalidated claimants from Wikipedia. That's mostly because the U.S. Census records recorded people's ages when they were young. In the former USSR, it is easier to "get away" with claiming to be older because so few early-life documents exist.
How refreshing it was to read a story by Rees Shapiro, a reporter for The Washington
Post, which showed evidence of independent, critical thinking. - - Steve Coles
"Katemi, Alleged To Be 145 yo?"
May 22, 2010; Katemi of Indonesia is alleged to be 145 years old. The main supporter of this claim was an uncle of hers who died at age 165 yo. Note that ages rounded up to a multiple of five are even more suspicious. If you read Spanish, click on her photo for more details from La Cuarta of Indonesia.
"Kwak Kyung Ran of China, Alleged To Be 114 yo?"
April 14, 2010; Henan Province, CHINA - - Pictured with her 85 year old Son, Kwak Kyung Ran was said to be born 1895, and her Son in 1923. If you can read Chinese, click on her photo for more details.
"South Vietnam Delta Woman Alleged To Be World's Oldest Person at Age 120
yo?"
March 18, 2010; Viet Nam Net Bridge - A village in the Mekong Delta, Can Tho City is possibly home to the world's oldest person, 120 years of age. Pham Thi Thuong from Truong Thanh Commune, Thoi Lai District still has an ID card issued in 1970 which says she was born in 1890. Click on her photo above for more details.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA writes that this lady sure looks old, but where's the evidence? (1) There is no date of birth, only a year; (2) The oldest document was recorded in 1970; and (3) The age claim (80 in 1970) and year (1890) are both "rounded numbers." In my opinion, not having a date-of-birth makes it easier to commit fraud, as they can simply claim January 1st as their actual birthdate.
Nevertheless, I don't consider this case to be fraud. It's more along the lines of what is referred to as "age heaping" or rounding one's age off to the nearest five or ten-year mark. There's also the benefit of an extra half-year, on average, for those who do not know their birthdate but assume they have made it. The point is, she might be 116 1/2, but her age is rounded up, first by the year (to 1890) and then with the assumption that she has reached her birth date. For example, suppose she was actually born July 18, 1890 -- she would be 119. Simply claiming "1890" means that she can be "120" now, without having to wait until July.
"The Old Man of Mt. Kilimanjaro, 125 yo?"
April 10, 2010; Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA writes, "This African case of Yohani Kinyala Lauwo from Tanzania [1871{?} - 1996] sounds like a myth... It might be called the I was there myth. In this incarnation, someone claims to have a connection to a quasi-historical figure. The fact that they can remember a historic person from the past is alleged to serve as "proof" of age. Of course, this is illogical: claiming to remember something that is common knowledge is not proof that someone was there 100+ years ago. We have seen these stories worldwide, from claims to be extreme old soldiers (Merlyn Kreuger, Gayirkhan Irishkhanov), claims to be ex-slaves ( Charlie Smith also claimed to have "rode with Jesse James", a typical example of associating oneself with an historical figure), etc.
I also note that this type of myth/legend is more common with the "social other," akin to an explorer finding a "lost tribe" or "people living in caves." It is human nature to have an imagination, tell stories, and to fantasize about an apocryphal connection to the past. Of course, sometimes that connection might be true: Jeanne Calment sold colored pencils to Vincent Van Gogh, for example. But most of the time, the claim is beyond reason.
"Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné, 140 yo?"
On the other hand, Roger Karlsson of Sweden has pointed out that there were several cases of natural child birth up to the age of 57 (for example, Ruth Kistler of Portland, OR in 1956) long before IVF infertility techniques were invented in 1978, so although this case is improbable, it is not absolutely impossible.
However, Miguel Quesada replies, "The number of 50+ natural child births is much smaller than the number of Supercentenarians, and, as far as I know, all the 50+ natural child births took place after the year 1900. I guess that if Eulalia Perez gave birth at age 50 or 51 in the year 1817, she would have been famous long before reaching old age and her case would have been recorded by medical authorities at that time, which was not the case. So our argument to demonstrate that she was younger than 110 when she died is still valid."
Click on the photo above for more details from Wikipedia.
"Two New Cases"
"Cuban Woman Celebrates 125th? Birthday, Official Agency Says"
February 2, 2010; Havana, CUBA - - Juana Bautista de la Candelaria Rodriguez
allegedly turned 125 years old on Tuesday and is "presumably" the oldest person on the planet,
"although that has not been acknowledged," Cuba's official media said Tuesday.
Known as Candulia by those close to her, she is not in the Guinness Book of World Records though she was ostensibly born on February 2, 1885 in Campechuela, a village in the Eastern Province of Granma, where she still lives, according to the official AIN news agency. The agency added that her date of birth is confirmed in a Civil Registry document of that village, where she was registered 25 days after she was born by her mother, Cecilia Rodriguez.
Candulia, who was the second of 13 children, said that she is in good health and is very happy, and that she hopes to celebrate many more years with her six Grandchildren, 15 Great-Grandchildren and four Great-Great-Grandchildren.
She attributes her longevity to the pure air of the countryside, a diet rich in meat, and a "heart that has always been full of love," AIN said.
Click on her photo for more details from the Latin American Herald Tribune.
__________
Our GRG Correspondent from Spain, Miguel Quesada, explains why he believes that this woman is more likely to be 95 than 125 years old...
The articles in Spanish say that her Mother died at 100 and her father at 96. It also says her husband Santo Cabrera died in April 1986, but there is not mention of his longevity. In other words, if she claims to be 125 today, she should be 101 in April 1986 and her husband should be around the same age at the time. So, being 125 today means giving birth at age 48 in 1933. Based on newspaper accounts, the only reasonable conclusion is that the person born in 1885 was, in fact, her Mother, and she is actually around 95 years old today.
"Doña Candelleria Padilla-Romero, 115 yo? in Colombia"
February 2, 2010; Gamarra, Cesar; COLOMBIA - - Unfortunately, Doñna
Candelleria Padilla-Romero, alleged to be today's oldest living person in Colombia at age
115, has no documentation to prove her claim. Her ostensible secret to extreme longevity is
eating chicken. Click on the photo for more details from Television News from Bogota,
Colombia with Brian Andrews (in English and not Spanish). The relevant portion is the last ~30
second clip of a 6-minute program that includes stories of a burned woman who allegedly
underwent "spontaneous combustion" and kittens nursing from a female dog! Note that this
woman can still walk around without a wheel chair, crutches, a walker, or a cane. This is
something not typically seen in a validated Supercentenarian of her age.
"The Myth of Aging Is Alive and Well in Pakistan"
Photo by Dawn
Monday, October 5, 2009; Umerkot, PAKISTAN - An old man of the Thar desert village of
Mehndri Jo Par, some 70 Km from here, is said to be 148 years old and it is claimed that he is the
world's oldest living person. Talib Samejo was born in 1861. He has a family of 402
members, including sons, daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and all of them are
alive.
Talib says he never fell ill, never drank alcohol or tea. He is in good health and recounts events even of his childhood. Asked about the secret of his health, he said: `In our times, we used pure food, milk, butter, and ghee; worked in fields and traveled long distances. Fertilizer and pesticides were not used and we used grain produced from rain-fed crops.
He said he had suffered the Chhapno drought of 1899 and Chhano drought of 1936 while the establishment of Pakistan was only a recent event. According to him, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was people's politician who got prisoners of war and Sindh's area freed from India.
Asked how old he was, Samejo said he had seen six generations. He may be the oldest living person in the world because he is a Supercentenarian (a person who has reached the age of 110 years).
A claim about a Supercentenarians has to be verified by an international body dealing with longevity research, such as Gerontology Research Group or the Guinness Book of World Records.
"Hu Yeh-mei of Taiwan, Alleged 125 yo?"
August 24, 2009; Taipei, TAIWAN (Chinese Central News Agency). Taiwan's oldest person, 125-year-old Bunun tribesman Hu Yeh-mei, passed away early Monday. Hu's ID showed her to be born February 10, 1885, making her the Taiwan's oldest person according to Ministry of the Interior records. Hu never had a major illness during her entire life, which could be because she did physically demanding work in her youth, chopping wood and planting mullet in the mountains. She also hiked in the mountains every day, enabling her to keep her body healthy despite her advancing years. She gained fame five years ago when she had a cameo role in a TV series. Her nephew, Hu Wu-jen, said she had the best temperament of all her siblings. "Her moderate temper and remaining close to nature were the secrets of her longevity," he said. She suffered broken bones to her limbs six years ago and became wheelchair bound. but she otherwise remained healthy, her nephew said. She maintained a good appetite, and would open her eyes wide whenever she heard that it was time to eat. Last year, she was temporarily placed in a nursing home because younger relatives were busy farming. The beginning in the end came in early February when she felt sick and was sent to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. On Sunday night she suffered from multiple organ failure and was taken home to die. Hu was never married, leaving her nephew to take care of the funeral. For details, click on "Taiwan's Oldest Person Passes Away."
Mr. Louis Epstein of New York suggests that if this woman were really born in February 1885, she still wouldn't have been "125" as claimed in the article; but she would have been World's Oldest, since the death of Sarah Knauss almost ten years ago... but this is her first major international publicity. Surely, if there were confidence in her claim, it would have been known more widely, especially after her reported local celebrity.
Mr. Robert Young of Georgia writes, "In China, it is traditional to start counting ages at 1, not 0. This means that someone born in 1885 would be '125' by their count, but '124' by our count. So we should note that Hu Yeh-mei's claim would only be '124' following the Western tradition."
"Maria Namagembe, Alleged 115 yo?"
August 20, 2009; Kampala, UGANDA; Mr. Robert Young writes, "If Maria Namagembe's oldest daughter is only 75 (a nice, rounded number... not 74 or 76) then [115-75] = 40. Are we to believe this woman started having children at age 40, the first of several? Not likely. This woman is more likely to be in her 90's. Click for details.
"Wesukwa Binti Pembe, Alleged 120 yo?"
August 18,
2009; Click on Madam Pembe's's photo for more details from Tanzania. This article is
replete with numerous errors as pointed out by several members of the GRG/WoP Groups.
"Hindu Swami Bua, Alleged 119 yo?"
July 27, 2009; Click on Swmi Bua's photo for more details from the Kerala Center in
Bellerose, NY.
"Anna Pavlovna Ragel of Belarus, 120 yo?"
July
13, 2009; Anna Ragel reading the newspaper in her kitchen. Click on the photo for
more details in Russian.
She was ostensibly born on July 4, 1889, in the village of Belye, Molodechno District.
Despite her very old age, little is known about the life of Anna Pavlovna. She worked at the
blacksmith's shop her entire life, raised four children in a very stern manner. In the Ragel's house
things have been always in order and labor held in respect. Anna Pavlovna attributes her
longevity to hard work. Today the 'elder of the country' lives together with her daughter in
Molodechno, feels quite well, and is always happy to see visitors.
(Victor Neverovich,
Head of Department for Labor, Employment and Social Protection, Molodechno District
Executive Committee).
"Maame Aketze, 120 yo?"
June 25, 2009; One of Ghana's, if not the world's oldest Supercentenarian -- Obaapayin
(n‚e) Sarah Efua Andrews -- affectionately known as "Maame Aketze" has passed
away at an "enviable age of 120," at Amanfopong, near Breman Asikuma, in the Central Region
of GHANA. Click on her photo for more details.
"Juan Camargo Angulo, Almost 110 yo?"
Juan Camargo Angulo was born in Agreda (Soria, SPAIN) on June 30, 1663 and
died on May 24, 1773 (very likely in Pamplona, SPAIN) at the claimed age of 109 years, 328
days. Having been born in the 17th Century, this is an important historical case. He had clear
significance for the Catholic Church, as he was
Bishop of Pamplona from 1716 to 1725;
Grand Inquisitor of Spain from 1720 to 1733.
The death date has been questioned by one of our investigators from SPAIN (Miguel Quesada), and it may actually be May 24, 1733. Therefore, if there were a typo in the year, Angulo would actually have died in office at a much younger age, 69.
"Scolastica Oliveri, 130 yo?"
May 31, 2009; Historical, Incomplete Case: Sra. Scolastica Oliveri is said to have lived in Bivona, ITALY from 1448 to 1578. She was presumed to be age 130, when she died. The source documents belong to the Archive of Monastero di San Paolo in Bivona located in Palermo. This case was brought to our attention by Sr. Marco Francesco Trizzino of Bivona.
"Sakhan Dosova of Kazakhstan, 130 yo?"
'World's oldest woman' dies at 130... after slipping in bathroom of new flat Kazakhstan gave
her to celebrate her age.
by
Daily Mail Reporter
May 11, 2009; "A woman thought to be the world's oldest person at 130 has died after slipping on the bathroom floor of her new flat. Sakhan Dosova broke her hip in a fall last month and never recovered. She had been given the flat by officials in Kazakhstan who were embarrassed she was living in overcrowded conditions with her impoverished family.
Her age came to light after a census in the city of Karaganda. Demographers also found she was on Stalin's first census of the region in 1926, with her age given as 47. Ten years old when Hitler was born: Sakhan Dosova, who apparently turned 130 on March 27th, in a recent picture. 'She broke her hip in the fall and never recovered,' said a neighbor.
The woman's date of birth was officially registered as March 27, 1879, and was shown on her documents including her Soviet-era Passport and independent Kazakhstan Identity Card. Until the recent census, however, her fame did not extend beyond her far-flung city. Note the birth date on her Kazakh Identity Card - March 27, 1879.
In an interview in March, she said: 'I don't have any special secret. I've never taken pills and if I was ill, I used grannies' remedies to cure me. I have never eaten sweets. 'I don't like them. But I love kurt, a salty dried cottage cheese, and talkan, ground wheat.' Gaukhar Kanieva, 42, her Granddaughter, said: 'We think laughter and her good mood helped her live so long.' Once she was discovered, local officials rushed to congratulate her and provide her with new housing and gifts. The mayor of Karaganda, Islam Togaybayev, went to visit her 'to personally congratulate her on such an achievement and show his respect', said his spokesman.
Some experts doubted her age, and claimed that while she was clearly very old, she may have exaggerated her years in Soviet times to claim special benefits. But local demographers insisted there was sound documentary evidence of her age. She outlived all but three of her children. If her age was correct, it meant she was born when Queen Victoria still had 22 more years to rule in Britain and Disraeli was Prime Minister. It was the year that Stalin and Einstein were born, the Anglo-Zulu war started, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first story. The year 1879 also saw Edison present his new invention - the light bulb - while the ill- fated last tsar of Russia was just 11 years old. She was ten when Hitler was born, 38 when Lenin led the Russian Revolution, and reached retirement age, 60, the year the Second World War began. According to one account of her life, twice married Sarkan was widowed at the Battle of Stalingrad during the Second World War. Only three of her children remain alive.
Dosova's claim came too late to be confirmed to the satisfaction of international bodies measuring world records. Officially, the oldest living person in the world is American Edna Parker of the US at 114 years-old."
[Editor's Note: Of course, Edna Parker died in 2008 at age 115. This article is woefully uninformed. Gertrude Baines, 115, is the current "official" stand-bearer. Also, an ID card is only proof of identity, not of birth. There is no proof of birth in this case, and the ages of Ms. Dosova's children suggest she was at least 20 years younger than claimed, if not more. - - Robert Young]
"Eufrozyna Kaminski of Canada, 111 yo?"
April 26, 2009; Ottawa, CANADA - - Mrs. Eufrozyna Kaminski died Thursday afternoon, April 23, 2009; at the age of 111 as the oldest Canadian. Click on her photo for more details.
Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA writes... "Note that her records may be difficult to come by due to war and boundary changes, but that it's possible that some of these cases may eventually be validated if the records are located. Also note that the GRG recognizes Margaret Fitzgerald, 112, as 'the oldest verified person living in Canada' and that Mary J. Ray, 113, was born in Canada before moving to New Hampshire, USA."
"Ruby Muhammed Claims She Is 112 yo? in Sacramento, CA"
However, research by the GRG strongly indicates that she is not the age claimed, but a decade younger! In June 2007, GRG Researcher Filipe Prista Lucas identified her in the US Census for 1910 as being age three, contrary to the story cited below. Therefore, Ruby would only be 102, not 112. Subsequent research by others in 2008 has corroborated the initial findings. Ruby's Mother was born in 1889, and would have given birth at eight years old if Ruby were born in 1897. This strongly indicates that 1907, not 1897, is the correct year of birth."
"Sacramento Woman Celebrates 112th Birthday: Ruby Muhammed Born In 1897"
March 19, 2009; Sacramento, CA (KCRA-3)-- Ruby Muhammed celebrated her 112th birthday by dancing. The Sacramento resident was born in Georgia in 1897 and moved to Sacramento when she was 85. That was in the early 1980s. Muhammed was joined Thursday in a celebration at Creekside Village Apartments by her Granddaughter, Gitona Muhammed, Great- granddaughter Najmah Muhammed and friends.
"One hundred and twelve tomorrow, and I'm thankful to allow that to stand on my feet," Muhammed said. "I hope you live as long as I have."
Gitona Muhammed said her Grandmother enjoys bingo, plants and nice jewelry. Muhammed has seen a broader swath of American history than most: There have been 20 presidents in her lifetime. Women didn't gain the right to vote until she was in her mid-20's, and she's lived through a number of military conflicts, including the Spanish-American War. Jazz gained in popularity while she was in her youth, and the television hadn't yet been invented -- and the Internet certainly wasn't around.
Click on her photo for more details.
"Father Elias Wen [Claim: November 19, 1896 -- June 9, 2007]?"
January 31, 2009; Protopresbyter Elias Wen ( W‚n Z zhŠng in Chinese) was born in
Beijing, CHINA, in 1896. At the age of seven he on his own volition and with his parents
permission was baptized into the Holy Orthodox Church. From 1905 to 1914, he studied at the
Mission School and from 1915 to 1918 at the Beijing Theological Seminary. In 1931, he was
ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Simon and assigned to the Annunciation Church in
Shanghai. After completion of the new Shanghai Cathedral in honor of the Mother of God
"Surety of Sinners", Fr. Elias was assigned Dean there. In 1946, by Decree of Archbishop John
(Maximovitch) he was made Rector of the Cathedral.
Soon afterwards, because of the communists, Fr. Elias was forced to flee China. He ended up in Hong Kong where he founded the Resurrection Parish. Fr. Elias did a great deal in Hong Kong to help the numerous Russian emigres. In 1957, Fr. Elias made his final move to the USA, where he was assigned to the Holy Virgin Cathedral "The Joy of All Who Sorrow" in San Francisco, CA. Click on the photo for more details.
. Our Senior Claims Researcher, Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA, would like us to note two
additional items:
(1) An "unverified" case does not mean that it's false. It does mean that we have not been able to
verify the age claimed. If someone can send us documentation for this case, we would move him
to the Verified Section; and
(2) Born in China in the 1890's raises an additional complication: It has been traditional in China
that a person's age begins at "one year old." Hence, Meiling Soong (Madame Chiang
Kai-Shek), once thought born on March 5, 1897, was reported to have been born in 1898 at her
death on October 23, 2003. In similar cases, just one year difference could make the difference
between age 110 (Supercentenarian status) and age 109 (non-Supercentenarian status).
"UZBEKISTAN Claims World's Oldest Woman, 128 yo?"
January 30, 2009; Uzbekistan officials say they've found the world's oldest woman, 128-year-old
Tuti Yusupova. The claim would make Yusupova six years older than the previously
known oldest person in history, Jeanne Calment, but her records have not been
independently verified. She lives in a remote village. After considerable discussion, the GRG
does not believe that this claim is valid. Furthermore, we cannot explain why this woman just
appeared today, instead of being presented a number of years ago, given the magnitude of this
claim. Click on the photo for a video from the BBC.
"Kookoo Molookoo, 134 yo?, of SOUTH AFRICA"
As reported by Martin Geissle of ITN, Mrs. Kookoo Molookoo of South
Africa claims she was born on July 4, 1874, which would make her 134 years old, if true.
However, records were not officially kept that far back, so it is uncertain as to whether that this is
her true age. Her documentation is a government-issued passport based on testimonials by family
members. Despite her age and failing eyesight she still appears to be full of spirit in this video.
She lives in the bushlands of South Africa with a daughter aged 90, 29 grandchildren, 59 great
grandchildren, and their children too. Her long-life does not seem to be a result of a
healthy diet either, consisting of spinach, meat, candy, and Coca Cola, as her favorite foods.
Kookoo Molookoo says that the secret to being the oldest person in history is "Trust in God and
respect for parents."
Mr. Robert Young commented back in 2005, "Moloko Temo's youngest Daughter was reported to be 79; therefore, [131-79] = 52 years old at the time of birth." So, it seems unlikely that the Mother could have been that old in a year, when IVF was not yet available as a reproductive technology.
Ref.: Click on the photo above for a video clip from CNN TRT = 1:42 min. CNN-HL-TV (1:45 PM PDT; October 23, 2008).
June 6, 2009; Robert Young reports that Mrs. Temo has died on Tuesday, June 2nd...
"Oldest Person Dies at 134 yo?"
by
Frank Maponya
June 5, 2009; MOURNED: Koko Moloko Temo
Limpopo's oldest citizen has died. Koko Moloko Temo, who was said to have been
born on July 4, 1874, which would make her 134 years old, if true, died in her sleep on Tuesday
night. Temo, of Mohodi village in Senwabarwana, is believed to have died of shock after
burying one of her two remaining daughters at the weekend. The dead daughter was aged 70. At
the time of her death, Temo was staying with her eldest daughter, who is 80. Local ward
councillor Francinah Makgalefa told Sowetan from the bereaved family home yesterday that the
whole village was devastated at hearing the news of the passing away of the pensioner. Temo
was believed to be the world's oldest person alive by people in Limpopo. But the Guinness
World Records was reluctant to recognize her. Instead, it recognized Mrs. Edna
Parker from the US, 114, as the oldest person.
Note: Unmentioned in this article, is that the Guinness "oldest person' title subsequently went to Maria de Jesus, 115, and then to Gertrude Baines, now 115. Click on the photo for more details.
"Rosie Ann Smith Dollison, 117 yo?"
October 14, 2008; Rosie
Dollison was alleged to have been born June 10, 1891 and therefore at the age of 117 to be
the oldest person in the world. However, one of our Senior Claims Investigators from Portugal,
Mr. Philip Prista-Lucas, has identified her true age as 104 from US Census Records for 1910 and
1920, showing that she was born in 1904.
"World's Oldest Man Dies at 138 yo? in INDIA"
August 25, 2008; (Mail On-Line) Click on the photo for details. Regarding Mr.
Habib Mianindias, Mr. Robert Young states, I believe this gentlemen exaggerated his age
for the sake of attention. Note that he changed his story several times, claiming to be born in
1878, 1872, 1870, and 1869. Also, note the name on the pension record doesn't match the name
of the claimant (Rahim Khan/Habib Miyan). It seems someone should have investigated him for
pension fraud. Instead, by making up a tall tale, it got him a free Hadj and celebrity status.
The oldest Indian-born person, whose age was verified, was Lucy D'Abreu [1892 - 2005] at 113 years 197 days; she was born in India and died in Scotland.
"How Old Is Mr. Frank Calloway of Tuscaloosa, AL, 112 yo?"
Mr. Frank Calloway draws
murals on sheets of butcher paper, sometimes more than 30 feet long.
July 23, 2008; Click on the photo above for the answer.
"New Claim for the World's Oldest Person, 134 yo?"
May 29, 2008; Pleasant Hill, CA (PRWEB) - - The alleged oldest living person in the world, Ghaini Lal Signh Jamkar comes from the nomadic tribe of Raj Gond in India and claims to be 134 years old. Although completely illiterate, she has embraced the idea of her story being told on the Internet. She claims to have cataloged the medicinal properties of over 1,000 native plants. In her lifetime, she has delivered over a thousand babies [as a midwife]. She credits her extreme longevity to her family, tea, herbal medicines, and a nip of alcohol here and there. However, we have no documentation to support her claim.
"Granny Tshinyelo Dora Muzila, 127 yo?"
January 18, 2008; ( Zoutnet by Nthambeleni Gabara) - - A local senior citizen and arguably the world's oldest person, Granny Tshinyelo Dora Muzila, died at the age of 127 at her home at Ha-Rathidili on Monday. She was born at Vhuvhirwa, next to the Mberengwa mountains in ZIMBABWE on May 4, 1880. When the Mirror visited her two years ago, she was left with one only tooth, but was reported to be still enjoying rice, chicken, soft porridge, and white bread. At that stage, she had not yet lost her sight, but she was only experiencing a hearing problem.
She told the Mirror that she was the first-born of her late Mother. She outlived four of her five children. During our visit two years ago, Granny Muzila was looking strong and healthy, clearly indicating that her caretaker, Mrs Sarah Ndouvhada, a domestic worker, and her Grandchildren at Louis Trichardt, were not neglecting her.
When she was 125, Muzila was still able to walk from her room to the kitchen without using a stick, but it was her swollen legs that forced her to crawl at times. She was commonly known as Vho-Juffrou and she once said that the secret behind her longevity was her love for the Word of God. During her lifetime, she was a senior member of the United African Apostolic Church. She once indicated that when she became a born-again Christian long ago, indigenous people used to laugh at her because the Word of God was something strange to them.
Muzila used to go around with her donkey cart, praying and healing those who were sick, visually impaired and disabled. As a result, she was nicknamed Luhwairi as a result of her spiritual powers. She died without remembering the year she got married and the year she gave birth to her first born. When she was 125, Muzila had 13 grandchildren and more than 20 great-grandchildren. According to her caretaker, Mrs Sarah Ndouvhada, Granny will be laid to rest on Sunday, January 27th at Rathidili cemetery. The family is yet to announce the time of the funeral service.
According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Indiana; USA is the world's oldest person at the age of 114, following the death of Yone Minagawa of Japan, who died at age 114.
"Li Ching-Yuen, 256 yo?"
May 4, 2008; Li Ching-Yuen (or spelled Li Ching-Yun) died on May 6, 1933. He claimed to be born in Szechuan Provence, CHINA in the year 1736, while other records suggest the year 1677. Obviously, both alleged lifespans, either 197 or 256 years, exceeds any reasonable estimate. During his life Li was a herbalist, martial artist, and tactical advisor to Chinese generals. He made the following recommendations to achieve extreme old age: (1) Keep a quiet heart; (2) Sit like a tortoise; (3) Walk sprightly like a pigeon; and (4) Sleep like a dog. He recommended a number of herbals, including Gotu Kola, Ginseng, and Polygonum multiflorum.
"Varvara Semennikova, 117 yo?"
August 16, 2007, Moscow, RUSSIA - This just in from Pravda,
Medportal
says, "Varvara Semennikova deserves the title of World's Oldest Living Person"
The title of Oldest Living Person in the World, which has recently been given to 114-year-old American Mrs. Edna Parker, should be awarded to a woman from Russia. A resident of the Yakutia Republic, Varvara Semennikova, turned 117 in May of 2007. Her birth date has been confirmed with archival documents, The Interfax News Agency reported.
[Note: The GRG did receive a Baptismal Certificate in February 2007 in Russian, which was translated by one of colleagues in St. Petersburg, RUSSIA. However, despite repeated E-mails, no other requested documents have been forthcoming.]
An employee of the National Archive of the Republic of Yakutia, Natalia Baisheva, managed to find the document to prove Varvara Semennikova's age (her maiden name was Diakonova). The register of births of the Bulunskaya Church contains a record dated May 10, 1890 about the birth of a girl named Varvara. The Father's name is mentioned as Konstantin Stefanov-Diakonov.
Varvara Semennikova was born to a nomadic family. When a young girl, she was dealing with deer farming and hunting. She brought up four children which she adopted. Varvara does not complain of health problems at her age of 117. The woman has a remarkable memory, although she cannot see or hear very well now. She can tell hundreds of stories about her life, express her own point of view on a variety of issues. This amazing woman still works as a housewife, she makes gowns, high fur boots, and does sewing.
"Native people of Yakutia are remarkable for their longevity. Many facts can be found in historical documents of the first half of the 19th century to prove it. Yakutia ranked third in the USSR on the number of long-living individuals according to the population census conducted in 1959," a spokesperson for the National Archive of Yakutia said.
Russian text translated into English by Dmitry Sudakov.
December 16, 2007; Lvov, UKRAINE (RIA Novosti) - - The planet's oldest living person, Grigoriy Nestor, died at the age of 116 in the Lvov Region in Western Ukraine on Sunday. According to church documents and his passport, Nestor was born on March 15, 1891. Nestor, who worked as a shepherd in the village, used to say that he had lived to an old age because he had never been married and, therefore had not had his longevity "undermined" by matrimony.
Nestor loved Ukrainian, Russian, German, and Polish songs, as he learned them after living through the first and second world wars in his West Ukrainian village. He never fell ill, never took any medicines, and never consumed alcohol in large amounts. According to Guinness World Records, today's World's Oldest Living Person is 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico, who assumed this title after Elizabeth Bolden, an African American woman, died at the age of 116 years and 118 days in 2006. [This information was incorrect and quite dated. A more accurate story is provided by the BBC News. - - LSC, Editor]
September 20, 2007; Mr. Hryhoriy (Grigory) Nestor of the Western Ukraine claims to have been born on March 15, 1891, which would make him 116 yo and the oldest living person in the world, as explained in a special Wikipedia entry. However, even though we have a picture of his passport (photo ID) with this birth date, it is of recent vintage, and there are no original documents that date back to the time of his birth. Mr. Nestor was born in Monastyr Village, Yaroslavskaya Oblast (a territory of Poland until 1939). As explained to the GRG in a recent E-mail by Mr. Vladimir Nikolin, Commercial Director of the Ukrainian Nation's Health Institute in Kiev, "During the process of transferring territorial boundaries from Poland to the USSR, the only written entry in the local church's Vestry Book was lost when the church was plundered and completely destroyed. According to our information, an active search for documents concerning Mr. Nestor was made by The Guinness Book of World Records, but no official records could be located. One could always attempt to communicate personally with the relatives of Mr. Nestor who live with him in Staryy Yarychiv Village, Lvovskaya Oblast by telephone (+380 32 54 651 37). His Grand-Niece, Ms. Oksana Savchuk, serves as his next-of-kin. But, of course, one must either speak Russian or Ukrainian, and so this case shall remain incomplete.
Note: The GRG has made contact with relatives of Mrs. Roberta Weston, but we have
neither received documents to corroborate nor deny her claim; therefore, we cannot validate her
story below. She was born in Mississippi at a time when Birth Certificates were not issued, and
the entry in her family bible was destroyed in a home fire. [For some odd reason, we hear this
sort of excuse frequently.]
August 9, 2005; Chicago, IL -- A local woman on Tuesday celebrated a day most people will never see -- her 118th birthday! Mrs. Roberta Weston was recognized by Mayor Richard Daley as the oldest living person in the United States, and "she may be the world record holder as well," NBC5-TV reported. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the oldest age ever reached by anyone as 122 years.
[Editor's Note: Curiously, the family has denied receiving any acknowledgement from the Mayor's office. We will attempt to resolve this matter and post an update as soon as we can.]
December 21, 2005; The Roberta Weston case has NOT moved forward, and so far her family has not produced any documents; so, not much has happened.
June 30, 2006; Here is a definitive update, as promised...
One of our Senior
Investigators, Sr. Felipe Prista Lucas of Portugal, has made a convincing argument that
Roberta Weston, who was presumed to be 118 years old, died instead at age 109! This
allows us to conclude that she was not even the oldest person in the state of Illinois, let alone the
nation or the world at the time of her death.
No one previously found this match
because:
(a) It was faded and almost illegible;
(b) Roberta was listed under her Step-Father's name, James Tate, instead of her natural Father's
name;
Here, Sr. Lucas links the 1900 Census match strongly with the 1910 Census listing, showing that
the hard-to-read name is in fact ' Jim Tate.' Also, of note was Roberta's future husband
living just a few doors down (a close neighbor?), and he was listed on the very same census
page!
Thank you Sr. Lucas for your scholarship, investigatory-skills, and tenacious perseverance in
helping us to resolve this ambiguity that the media, with all its resources, had no interest in
refuting secondary to its intense fascination with the human-interest aspects of the story (that
sells newspapers) and compels a promiscuous lack of objectivity (or even the slightest pretense at
skepticism) when confronted by their own inherent conflict-of-interest.
-- Editor
"Maria Olivia da Silva, 130 yo?"
March 5, 2005; Due to the enormous interest by GRG members in the recent claim of
Maria Olivia da
Silva of São Paulo, BRAZIL, as the oldest person who ever lived, we are showing
two pictures of her, even though we do not have sufficient evidence at this time to place her on
our list of Living Supercentenarians... Here's her story, so far, from The Associated
Press...
___________________________
Our own GRG Senior Claims Investigator, Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, Georgia, wishes to
go on record, saying ...
Let's consider for just a moment that this woman was alleged to have been born on February 28,
1880...
Firstly, if that were true, she would have been the "world's oldest person" since 1997. Why didn't
she apply for recognition then? How old were you in 1997? Think about it.
Secondly, this woman is said to have a 58-year-old "adopted" son. Even if adopted at birth, that
would have made her 67 years old at the time -- Compare that to fully-validated
Supercentenarians:
Bettie Wilson, who died at 115, had a 95-year-old son;
Florence Van
Stockum, age 110, has an 88-year-old son;
Grace Thaxton, age 113, has an
89-year-old son.
Note that this woman has been living "in a shack." Furthermore, the documents exhibited, so far,
were NOT issued in the year 1880. But, if the family can produce some real proof -- as
opposed to merely saying "We have proof." -- we would be very interested in seeing this
"proof"!
Fewer than 1,000 persons have reached 110 (98 percent are dead by 115, while 99 percent are
dead by 116). Consider the chance that anyone could live from age 115 to age 125. This would
on the order of 1 in 1,000, i.e., the same probability as getting ten consecutive "Heads" when
flipping a fair coin. The GRG has recorded only 17 documented individuals as having reached
age 115 (and five of these are doubtful). Therefore, this Brazilian case has to be treated as
extremely dubious. The older the claimed age, the more rigorous the standard to which it must
be held, or as the late Dr. Carl Sagan used to say, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence."
As of today (March 11, 2005), the approximate cumulative numbers of historical validated
Supercentenarians are as follows:
|
|
Years |
Numbers |
| 1. |
110 |
800+ |
| 2. |
111 |
400+ |
| 3. |
112 |
200+ |
| 4. |
113 |
114 |
| 5. |
114 |
53 |
| 6. |
115 |
17 |
| 7. |
116 |
8 |
| 8. |
117 |
5 |
| 9. |
118 |
3 |
| 10. |
119 |
3 |
| 11. |
120 |
2 |
| 12. |
121 |
1 |
| 13. |
122 |
1 |
| 14. |
>=123 | 0 |
Finally, Mr. Louis Epstein, our International Committee Chairman of New York, says, "We have requested Mr. Lehman, the staff writer from The Associated Press who wrote the story above, to provide us with additional supporting evidence, but so far (as of March 11, 2005) he has not responded to our E-mails." We will keep you posted.
_________________
* The document pictured here appears to have been prepared in the year 2000 or 2001. I have now read nearly all of the stories about her on Brazilian websites. When she lived in Centenario do Sul in the 1960's, her house burned down and she lost everything, including her documentation according to her Stepson. Later, she had trouble getting her pension which her Stepson was able to resolve. I suspect that he obtained new documentation for her so that she could receive her pension, and this may have been the origin of her current documents that have been represented as her original Birth Certificate. Therefore, it appears that the oldest documentation of her age may have been created in the 1970's. -- Stan Primmer, a long-time member of the GRG and a Co-Founder of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation (SRF) now being formed.
Update at March 1, 2010; Five years later, Chris Amos reports that someone has paid a YouTube four-minute video tribute to Mrs. da Silva (in Portuguese) at the time of her alleged 130th birthday. He suggests that "She has become a longevity myth in her own lifetime."
July 10, 2010; We are sad to report that Maria da Silva passed away on Thursday, July 8th, at the ostensible age of 130 years 130 days.
The following is a commentary on the death of da Silva by Mr. Stan Primmer, a Director of
the SRF...
I spent a great deal of time and money investigating this case a few years ago. Her "Birth
Certificate" had been issued about 30 years before and stated that her parents were deceased, so it
was not adequate evidence of her actual birth date. A journalist in the town near which
Maria Olivia da Silva lived visited her and her adopted son several times at my request. She
(the journalist) obtained the names of three of Maria's natural born children (in addition to her
adopted son). A son had died, and the location of a daughter was uncertain. I found the phone
number of another son named Jose, and called him. He confirmed that he was her son and knew
certain information about her. He told me that he was 58, which meant that she was 66 or 67
when he was born. No woman has ever been known to give birth by natural means above the age
of 59. Therefore, we judged her case to be a false claim. I speak enough Portuguese to be able to
converse with Brazilians. - - Stan Primmer
"Ronnie Fairbanks, 110 yo?"
August 9, 2007; Mr. Ronnie Fairbanks has a Photo ID from the State of California Department of Motor Vehicles showing him to be born on May 29, 1897 making him over 110 years old. But he has no Birth Certificate and has outlived all his relatives, so there is no next-of-kin, and, as far as we can tell, no one to serve as Legal Guardian, Custodian, or Executor of his estate. He lives independently in a tall senior-housing apartment building in Hollywood near the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. He is well oriented as to person, place, and time. He could name many US Presidents starting with William McKinley [1896], Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He has superb vision and hearing and no frailty or dementia whatsoever, although he presently lacks dentures. He was born on a cattle ranch near Butte, MT, but there are no Census records of his having lived there under that name, and so for the time being, our Senior Claims Investigator, Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, GA, has declared him to an "International Man of Mystery."
January 25, 2010; We are sad to report that Mr. Fairbanks, allegedly born on May 20, 1897, passed away on December 2, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA..
"Maria do Carmo Geronimo, 129 yo?"
Maria do
Carmo Geronimo of BRAZIL
Ms. Maria Jeronimo, passed away on Wednesday, June 14, 2000 at the ostensible age of
129 Church baptismal records say that she was born on March 5, 1871 in the
Southeastern town of Carmo de Minas, BRAZIL. However, she has never been authenticated by
the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest woman, since there was never a non-
disputable proof-of-age or an official Birth Certificate for her (she was born a slave). Other
facts: After her emancipation she worked as a nanny for 60 years for one family. She never
married. She never went to a hospital for medical care until she was 120! She apparently died
from a series of strokes.
October 12, 2011; As stated above, it has been claimed that Maria do Carmo Geronimo, an ex-slave, was ostensibly born on March 5, 1871. It has again been reported that she died on June 14, 2000 at the presumed age of 129 yo.
"Ma Pampo, 126 yo?"
Mrs. Elizabeth Israel (AKA "Ma Pampo") of the Caribbean
island-nation of Dominica, WEST INDIES was presumed born on January 27, 1875
(making her now 126 years old ). [She has no Birth Certificate, but the local Roman Catholic
Archdiocese issued an official Baptismal Certificate based on church records.] If her age were
accurate, it would make her older than record-holder, Frenchwoman Madam Jeanne
Calment who died at 122 years of age on August 4, 1997 (see much more below). But there
are reasons to be skeptical as Mr. Young insists below the photos that follow. (Mrs. Israel was
known to be alive on February 1, 2001, but she reportedly died in See
mid-October 2003.)
February 5, 2001;
This just in from Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, Georgia:
"As you may know, for
years Madam Jeanne Calment's status as the world's oldest person was challenged
(unsuccessfully) by Maria do Carmo Geronimo of BRAZIL (See photo above), who
may well have been the last legal slave in the Western Hemisphere (Brazil abolished slavery in
1888, and in June 1871 the Brazilian legislature passed a law that all children born to slaves
would henceforth be free). Her birth claim of March 5, 1871 was backed up by a Roman Catholic
Baptismal Certificate, as well as physical evidence. She died June 14, 2000, following two years
of living in a nearly vegetative state.
Today, we have a new asterisk: Mrs.
Elizabeth Israel of Dominica, West Indies, who is said by some interested parties to be 126
(presumably born January 27, 1875). But what merit does this claim have? Has anyone
investigated seriously? In searching the Internet, I came across the definitive websites on Ms.
Israel. They are
www.cakafete.com/pampo/story.htm
and the associated link,
www.geocities.com/amazinglydominica_ceninarians/.
The amazing thing is that, on
a small Caribbean island of 72,000, there are four claimed Supercentenarians: one born 1875,
one born in 1883, and two born in 1889. This is, of course, extremely unlikely, and is reminiscent
of the longevity myths of Vilcabamba, the Hunza Valley, and the
Caucasus back in the 1970's. Aside from the fact that Mrs. Israel looks very ancient (and
believably 126 years old), the stories themselves don't add up. She is referred to as the "World's
Oldest Documented Centenarian." This document, a Roman Catholic Baptismal
Certificate, may be a copy of original documents destroyed in the 1979 Hurricane
David. Note that the website(s) admit that they don't even know what year Ms. Israel was
married, or what year her son was born. Yet the most incredulous claim is that her grandmother
was born in the 1740's -- a gap of 135 years in two generations of women. Obviously, the story
falters under closer scrutiny."
The Guinness Book of Records has been contacted on her behalf for an official consideration of her claim.
"Jamaican Woman Dies at 128 yo?"
by
Byron McDaniel, Gleaner Writer
Mandeville, Manchester; JAMAICA
May 1, 2007; The woman, believed to be the oldest person in Jamaica, has died and was buried yesterday in Manchester. Mary Ewen, otherwise called 'Granny Mary', died at the [alleged] age of 128 years 340 days. She was [allegedly] born at Coley Mountain in Manchester on May 5, 1878. She died on April 10, 2007. Granny Mary was married to Tommy Ewen of Coley Mountain, and had six children. Two of her daughters are still alive, one is 82 and the other is 84 years old.
Granny Mary's Granddaughter, Yvonne Hall, was her caregiver. She is one of Granny Mary's 25 Grand-great-grand and Great-great-grandchildren. Granny Mary attended the Coley Mountain Elementary School. She lived a clean life and she never drank alcohol. She was a midwife in her district and delivered many babies. The beloved woman was very fond of children and was a devoted Christian and church attender. Her Father reportedly lived for 130 years. Granny Mary attributed her long years to God's blessing and the eating of simple and healthy natural foods.
She was buried at the Grace Open Bible Church, Coley Mountain.
Click for more details.Editor's Note: Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta speculates, this story demonstrates that the myth of longevity' persists in Jamaica (as it does in the UKRAINE, and many other places in the world). Note how the unrealistic age is supported by rationalizations ("God's blessing," "eating simple and natural foods"). Instead, how about: "Perhaps her age is exaggerated"? Note the ages of the daughters (82 and 84). So, she gave birth at 46 and 44? Yes, that's possible... Or perhaps, alternatively, she's younger than claimed.
"Alberta Davis, 119 yo?"
July 20, 2001; Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta has just identified in his own state perhaps the
world's oldest living person...
.
Born December 24, 1881, in Hancock County, Georgia, at 119, Mrs. Alberta Davis, if
validated, "would be the world's oldest person by a large margin and, in fact, hers is the oldest
claimed age of anyone living who was born in the United States." Click on her picture above for
more details.
January 2, 2002; Mr. Young called her nursing home today and confirmed that Resident Alberta Davis is still alive and celebrated her 120th birthday on December 24, 2001. She remains the oldest-known US-born "claimant," or to state it another way, if she is the age claimed, she would be the oldest living American.
July 11, 2009; Update: Alberta Davis of Georgia, who claimed birth date of December 24, 1881, passed away on January 27, 2007 at the alleged age of 125 years.
"Liza Johnson, 115 yo?"
April 2, 2002; Mr. Robert Young has sent us a photo (that he took himself) of American
woman
Mrs. Liza Johnson of Buena Vista, Georgia, who was reported to have been born on
June 28, 1887. This would make her older than the long-time World's Oldest Person, Mrs.
Kamato Hongo of Japan (born Sept 16, 1887), if this date could be authenticated.
Update from Mr. Robert Young on June 22, 2002: It seems that Liza Johnson was born in
1900 or 1901 (depending on whether the 1920 listing is "18" or "19") and is going to be 101 or
102 next week, not 115. We regret the error.
March 11, 2003; Mr. Robert Young has just confirmed that Liza Johnson died on December 18, 2002. He also discovered that she was listed in the 1920 Census as 18 or 19 years old. Therefore, while her exaggerated claimed age ends at 115, her real age lies only between 101 and 102.
"Harriet McGee, 118 yo?"
April 7, 2002; Mr. Robert Young took this photo of
Mrs. Harriet McGee [or spelled "McGhee," since the name spelling varies]. She is
said to have been born on March 11, 1884, and is therefore thought to be 118. However, no
evidence has been produced to support this claim. We have just learned that she died on
November 6, 2002 in Albany, GA, at the claimed age of 118 years 237 days (exactly two years
shy of Mr. Izumi). The photo above was taken in March of this year, shortly after her presumed
118th birthday.
February 6, 2003; We have learned today that Mrs. McGee claimed to be only 30 years old (born in 1912) when she applied for Social Security in 1942. According to her later claims she would have been 58 at that time (born in 1884). One has to ask, why would she postpone her eligibility for benefits for 28 years if she were really 58 years old at the time? Mr. Robert Young speculates, "Perhaps 1884 was her mother's birth date, and she later decided to use that date to get benefits? If so, she would have been only 90, not 118 which once again demonstrates why age validation is so important.
"Herbert Young, 112 yo?"
Mr. Robert Young reports that...
Mr. Herbert Young, who was alleged to be 112 years 354 days in 1999, actually turned
out to be a mere 102.
"Mary Thompson, 119 yo?"
October 11, 2001;
Little Rock, AR (AP) " Mary Thompson, 119; Oldest Unofficial Person on
Earth," The Los Angeles Times, p. B13 A woman, who was alleged to be the world's
oldest person but who lost her birth certificate in a house fire, has died. Mary Thompson became
seriously ill Friday and died Monday at a hospital. She was presumed to be 119 years, 2 months,
and 5 days old. Thompson, who had a taste for Crown Royal whiskey and Juicy
Fruit gum, had lived since age 112 at Crestpark Nursing Home in De Witt, Arkansas. "She
had a special place in the dining room where she sat, and today there's nobody in that place. She
was a fixture," Nursing Home Director Vickie Brown said. "The staff doted over 'Momma
Mary,' giving her dollar bills to buy whiskey," Brown said. At her 119th birthday August 2nd
Thompson was inundated with cards, flowers, and money.
A British television station recorded her saying "Happy birthday" to the Queen Mother, who turned 101 the next day, and the Wrigley Company sent her a case of Juicy Fruit. Social Security records show that she was born on August 2, 1882 in Shelby, Mississippi. Her parents were former slaves. Thompson lost her birth certificate in a fire about 50 years ago. The Guinness Book of Records says the document would have been necessary to certify her as the world's oldest living person.
Historians in Arkansas and Mississippi could not find Thompson on US Census rolls from the late 1800s, but acknowledge records for blacks during that period are sketchy. According to Robert Landfair, the Administrator of Thompson's Estate, "She was married twice," but her nurses said "Mrs. Thompson talked about three different husbands." In any event, she never had any children.
"Mariam Ammash, 120 yo?"
February 21, 2008; CNN-TV gave credibility to the apocryphal story of
Mrs. Mariam Ammash alleged to be 120 years old based on an Israeli Passport that
lists her year-of-birth as 1888 without citing a day or a month [1]. The GRG has already
discredited this fabrication, but CNN decided to air this human-interest interview
anyway with the contradictory fact that she gave birth to her youngest Son in 1954 at what would
have been age 66. Do the math. This does not compute, given that IVF ART technology was not
available at that time and place and she probably had her menopause 12 to 15 years before then.
QED. Is this tabloid journalism what we expect from a premier cable-news outlet? So, due to an
obvious age exaggeration, we get to hear her expound on the standard reporter question: "To
what do you attribute your extreme longevity?" Answer: "a diet of fruits and vegetables, avoiding
contact with either tobacco or alcohol." [sic]. At least they mentioned the name of Mrs.
Edna Parker, who is currently the real No. 1 in the world at 114 cited on Table E
(with proper documentation). CNN Reporter Ben Wedeman's gratuitous rambling at the
end of the report obviously stretches all credibility.
Ref. 1: "The New Longevity Miracle: Live in the Mideast" CNN-TV (Thursday, February 21, 2008; 8:55 AM PST; TRT = ~2 min.).
"24 More Cases"
July 3, 2009; Mr. Stefan Jamin of Germany has translated an article from " Die
Rheinpfalz" on selected claims that are sorted alphabetically by nation:
1. Algeria:
April 8, 1970: Adda Ould Benhalima died with the alleged age of 154 yo?
in Anar, East Algeria (born 1816).
2. Brazil:
"Die Rheinpfalz" June 4, 1971: Delfina da Costa Freire died in the alleged age
of 155 yo? in Rio de Janeiro. The article also stated that she didn't know her age but,
during a Census, officials claimed to have located a birth document for April 3,
1816.
3. Iran:
(1) January 8, 1970 (with photo): Mohammed Ayub - alleged 180 yo? - from
the Persian village of Ayub. He also claimed to be married 140 years ago and a widower for 78
years.
(2) Faraji Tabibi Haim See Israel No. 2.
4. Israel:
(1) April 23, 1960: Mohammed Khalil Aboulhawa died at an alleged age of 140
yo?, living near or in Jerusalem.
(2) October 21, 1965: Faraji Tabibi Haim died at the alleged age of 120 yo?;
she claimed 16 years before from the Azerbaijanian region of Iran to Israel.
(3) November
8, 1966: Abu Juma El-Assadi died at the alleged age of 121 yo? in Dir
El-Assad (Galilee); he claimed to be born in 1844 in Dir El-Assad (at this time, it was part of the
Ottoman Empire).
5. Kenya:
September 23, 1965: Atmbamala died at the claimed age of 140 yo?
6. Mexico:
September 18, 1953: Marcipal Oine from Aus Queretaro died at the alleged age of
149 yo?; his oldest son claimed to be 105 years old.
7. Morocco:
January 19, 1966: Hadj Mohammed ben Mbark died at the alleged age of 165
yo?; his oldest son claimed to be 110 yo?
8. New Zealand:
June 4, 1970: On Wednesday (June 3, 2006?) died at a claimed age of 120 yo?;
Rawini Taitimu, living near Auckland; she also claimed to remember the first white settlers
in 1862.
New Zealand.
9. Romania:
June 26, 1968: Ilie Stamate from Hovat/Horat? died in the alleged age of 135
yo?; he also claimed to be a veteran of the Romanian war for independence (1877).
10. Singapur (or Java):
August 25, 1852: Hadschi Mayd> with alleged documents for 148 yo claimed
to be 160 yo? he was a blind Javanese man.
11. Syria
October 22,1966: Yakoub Ali Ibrahim from the village of Saberah claimed to be
120 yo?.
12. Tanganyika (now Tanzania):
September 28, 1967: Samson Shakorango claimed to be 158 yo?, lived on a
farm near Aruscha and had a Baptism in 1896.
13. Turkey:
April 11, 1967: Mrs. Emeni Tuna died in the alleged age of 118 yo? in
Izmir.
14. Uganga:
March 21,1967: On Sunday died at the alleged age of 170 or 180 yo? Ezekeli
Srenze from Arua in the North West of Uganda; he claimed that his 5th wife died 80 years
ago. Among his ten children, only the youngest was still alive at 71 -- that would make him
between 99 and 109 a the time of his birth -- and this was 9 years after the presumed death of his
5th wife.)
15. USSR:
I. Azerbaijan
(1) 1952: The alleged 152 yo? Ibrahim Gadshiew (*1799) from the mountain
village of Fariha had his 12th marriage.
(2) February 1 and February 12, 1966, March 29,1966, January 4, 1967, May 22, 1968, May 20,
1970: Shirali Muslimow from Bartsawu/Bartzawu claimed to be 165 yo? in
1979; the article in 1970 also stated that the exact day of his birth wasn't known - only a Passport
from 1938 stated that he was
born in 1805.
Shirali Muslimov,
168 [1805 - - 1973 (Allegedly)]
This is an interesting case, as some say his age is for real while most dispute his extreme
longevity. Muslimov was a Talysh shepherd from the Village of Barzavu in the Lerik region of
Azerbaijan, a mountainous area near the Iranian border. The only evidence of Muslimov's age is
a passport that states his birth date in 1805. What is more likely, however, is that he has been
confused with someone else, possibly his Father or his Grandfather. In the right-hand photo
Muslimov was allegedly over 160 years old!
(3) April 11, 1967; May 19, 1971: Schirin Hasanow Tschereken - representative -
claimed to be 154 yo?.
II. Armenia:
April 27,1966: Asmar Salochowa claimed to be in his 150's.
III. Ossetia:
1. September 15, 1956: Korejew celebrated his 156 yo? birthday in a small
Caucasian village.
2. March 15th and June 22, 1967: Her alleged 100th day of marriage celebrated
Balakischi (130) and Amina (114) Orudschems in
the mountain village of Ilkhytschi near Baku.
IV. Tajikistan
February 8,1968: Machmud Mamedow claimed to be 117 yo?.
V. March 29, 1966: The Soviet Union claimed to have over 22,000 centenarians - about 5,800 of
them in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia.
16. Yugoslavia
(1) November 20, 1965: Djordje Milosev from Bistrica claimed to be 132
yo? zu sein; it is also said that he had some documents from WW-I giving his age as 82 (he
didn't wish to join the army), but officials told him that he more likely looked like 40, making his
age an exaggeration to avoid military service during WW-I.
(2) "Die Rheinpfalz"
May 19, 1971: Mane Cvetkovic from Belgrade claimed to be 125 yo?.
1. Mr. Thomas Parr, London, UK [1483 - 1635] 152 yo [4; pp. 46-54]
2. Mr. Jenry Jenkins,
UK, [1501 - 1670] 169 yo
3. Countess of Desmond, UK, 140 yo
4. Drakenberg, a sailor who allegedly married at 111 yo; [1626 - 1772] 146 yo
5. Attila the
Hun, 500 AD, Mongolia, 121 yo
6. Mr. Jonathan Hartop, died 1791, UK, 138 yo
7. Mr. Zaro Agha, Turk, 156 yo
8. Mr. Charlie Smith (Black Slave), USA, 137 yo
9. Mr. Robert Young writes, "The highest age claim from the UK that I am aware of is
Thomas Cam, said to be "207" in the year 1588. Here is a letter to the Editor, while not to
be taken seriously, shows the mind-set of the myths of longevity in 1913. Some of the additional
ages mentioned are well over 100, and include cases I was not aware of."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F00E2DE163DE633A25752C1A9619C94629
6D6CF
History's Oldest Man: Was It Thomas Cam, Aged 207, According to Parish Record?
by
W. Fenwick
Friday, July 11, 1913 ( The New York Times, p. 8) - - I am afraid I cannot "vouch" for
the records of the two ancients mentioned in your recent editorial article, but would say that the
extraordinary case of Thomas Cam ([presumably] aged 207) rests on the parish records
at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, a copy of which appeared in the Penny Magazine of 1833,
from which it appears he lived from the fourth of Richard IV to the thirtieth of Elizabeth, having
been born in 1381.
Refs.:
1. Francis Bacon, History of Life and Death: with Observations Natural and Experimental of
the Prolongation of Life (1638) (Kessinger Publishing Co. Rare Reprints; 2003).
2.
W. L. Thoms, Human Longevity, Its Facts and Its Fictions (2nd Edition, London;
1873).
3. T. E. Young, On Centenarians and the Duration of the Human Race (London; 1899).
4. Maurice Ernest, The Longer Life - A Critical Survey of Many Claims to Abnormal
Longevity, of Various Theories on Duration of Life and Old Age, and of Diverse Attempts at
Rejuvenation (1937)(Hesperides Press; 2006).
5. Alex Comfort, The Process of Aging (Signet Science Library Books, New York;
1964).
6. Leonard Hayflick, How and Why We Age (Ballantine Books, New York; 1994).
7. Robin Holliday, Aging: The Paradox of Life: Why We Age (Springer Books, New
York; 2007). Chapter 9, "Myths of Life Extension," pp. 71-6.
8. Alexander Leaf, "Long
Lived Populations: Extreme Old Age," Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol.
30, pp. 485-7 (1982).
9. R. B. Mazess and S. H. Forman, "Longevity and Age Exaggeration in Vilcabamba, Ecuador,"
Journal of Gerontology, Vol. 34, pp. 94-8 (1979).
10. N. G. Bennett and L. K.
Garson, "The Centenarian Question and Old-Age Mortality in the Soviet Union [1959-70],"
Demography, Vol. 20, pp. 587-606 (1983).
11. Z. A. Medvedev, "Caucasus and Altay
Longevity: A Biological or Social Problem," Gerontologist, Vol 13, pp. 381-7
(1986).
12. Thomas T. Perls, Living To 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any
Age (Basic Books, New York; 1999).
13. V. Kannisto, Development of Oldest-Old Mortality, [1950-90]: Evidence from 28
Developed Countries (Monographs on Population Aging, No. 1; Odense University Press;
Odense, Denmark; 1994).
14. Michel Poulain, G. M. Pes, and C. Grasland, et al., "Identification of a Geographic Area
Characterized by Extreme Longevity in the Sardinia Island: The AKEA Study,"
Experimental Gerontology, Vol. 39, pp. 1423-9 (2004).
15. J. M. Robine, D. C.
Wilcox, and M. Suzuki, "Exceptional Human Longevity," in M. Darasek, Editor, Aging and
Age-Related Diseases: The Basics, pp. 459-509 (Nova Science Publishers, Happauge, NY;
2006).
16. J. M. Robine and M. Allard, "The Oldest Human," Science, Vol. 279, pp. 1834-5
(1998).
17. R. Koenig, "Sardinia's Mysterious Male Methuselahs," Science, Vol. 291, pp. 2074-
6 (2001).
18. Bernard Jeune and James W. Vaupel, Validation of Exceptional Longevity (Odense
University Press, Odense, Denmark; 1999).
19. Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox, and Makoto Suzuki, The Okinawa Program: How
the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health and How You Can Too
(Random House, New York; 2001).
20. David Boyd Haycock, Mortal Coil: A Short History of Living Longer (Yale
University Press, New Haven, CT; 2008).
21. Scroll down to the photo of Prof. George Z. Pitskhelauri, M.D., Director, Gerontology
Center, Institute of Experimental and Clincial Therapy in Tbilisi, GEORGIA on Dr. John W. Apsley, M.D.,'s website.
No list of superlongevous human beings would be complete without mentioning the nine
Antediluvian Patriarchs (Elders who lived before the Flood), i.e., those cited in the Old
Testament Book of Genesis, 5:[1-32]...
1. Adam; 930 yo; the first man
2. Seth; 912 yo
3. Enos; 905yo
4. Cainan; 910 yo
5. Mahalaleel; 895 yo
6. Jared; 962 yo
7. Methuselah; 969 yo; the oldest of all humans
mentioned in recorded history [*]
8. Lamech; 777 yo
9. Noah; 950; the last before the flood
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* The literal translation of the name Methuselah is " when he dies, the deluge"... Therefore, it would seem that God gave mankind a considerable amount of time to repent before delivering His just punishment (40 days and nights of continuous rain, leading to a humongous flood, which presumably covered the entire Earth. The flood was followed by a rainbow, as testimony that God [1] would not use this form of punishment again. [Was this a violation of the laws of physics?]) [Contrary to popular belief, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gommorah were destroyed by fire and not by flood]. Thus, the Biblical chronology indicates that Methuselah died in the same year as the Flood. Click for a wonderful bar graph with time lines measured in 2100 years post creation, taken from "Meeting the Ancestors," Creation, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 13-15 (March 2003). Because of his incredible age, Methuselah presumably enjoyed a unique position in history. As a young man, he could have met Adam and Eve when they were still alive and heard first-hand accounts of life in The Garden of Eden; he also lived long enough to recount these stories to his Grandson, Noah, and possibly even to Noah's sons, his Great Grandsons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth). As no known autopsy was reported for Methuselah, his exact cause of death will never be known -- whether of natural causes (old age) or possibly drowning, since he apparently never make it onto Noah's Ark for safe passage back to dry land when the rain stopped and the waters drained back into the sea. There is now a Dutch Noah's Ark Theme Park with an Ark following the original specifications in the Bible. www.mysuburbanlife.com/berwyn/newsnow/x1489221118/Morning-Jolt-Dutchman-builds-Noa h-s-Ark.
It might be imagined that a systematic error was made in the extreme ages of these patriarchs, such as a decimal point being moved in the digits associated with these ages, so that 969 years should have been translated as 96.9 years (which would be much more reasonable), but this cannot be so according to my colleagues in the USC Department of Theology, since the original scriptures whether in Hebrew or Greek (or Aramaic) used the full spellings of these number words (969 = nine hundred and sixty-nine, as they are written in the King James' version), since the concept of a decimal point (nor even individual Arabic digits {0, ..., 9}) was not even invented yet. Another idea was that they were talking about lunar months and not years, which would also make the numbers come out right, but this is not true either. Our ancestors may have had some strange ideas about keeping track of time on an annual calendar, but they clearly knew the difference between months (lunar full moons ~ 28 days) and years (~365 1/4 days) given that this was critical for agricultural planting seasons and not just for the sake of astrology. It is curious to ask, why the days of the week and the months of the year are capitalized in English [and other common languages], while the names of the seasons {fall, winter, spring, and summer} are not. Those forefathers who provided us with a written language were not especially interested in linguistic consistency. Even punctuation marks were not applied rigorously until very recent times. Interestingly, Spanish uses an inverted question mark at the start of an interrogative sentence, but English speakers don't. So why not?
Genesis, 6:3 provides a post-flood maximum lifespan retraction, revised down to 120 years without a cross reference to Chapter 5, so we don't know if this shortening of life expectation by an order of magnitude was intended by God to be a punishment or perhaps a restriction on human fecundity to limit the number of progeny in any given generation. It could be that the children of Noah inherited DNA mutation(s) in their longevity-determining genes due to the flood, but that will remain a mystery for the present.
It is often suggested that another mention of maximum/average longevity in the Bible [in Psalms 90:10 (three score and ten [70] but again without a cross reference to Genesis) is a much more reasonable estimate. But then again, there are many curious omissions in the Bible that are ignored by religious scholars. For example, the issue of incest is not properly addressed, in that Cain and Abel, Sons of Adam and Eve must have had sisters to help propagate the human race (H. sapiens 1.0 over 200 K years), but no mention is made of these women. However, in the Apocrypha there is mention of another wife (an earlier wife) for Adam named Lilith, but that's a back story that is rarely taught by the Christian Church, Catholic or Protestant. We just have to acknowledge that the Bible is jam-packed with non-scientific implausible folklore intended both to entertain and to respond to the questions by curious but non-skeptical children. Subsequently, these tales were passed down from generation to generation in an oral tradition before they were ever written down and became established as divinely-inspired, scared scripture revealed by those prophets who presumably spoke directly to the one true [monotheistic] God giving rise to a variety of religious persuasions many of which claim to represent the "one true faith," even though they are frequently contradictory.
Fundamentalist evangelical religions have no tolerance for antagonistic teachings, and any
contrary eschatology (apostasy) can be punished with torture or a painful death ranging from
stoning, to crucifixion, to being burned at the stake for heresy or blasphemy. In God's name we
have a variety of logical inconsistencies wrapped in fantastical superstitions [in no special
order]...
1. Resurrection of the dead (or reincarnation) [or the power to do so];
2. Immaculate
Conception;
3. Ritual of Baptism; (which leads to the paradox of Purgatory or Limbo for infants)
See
Saint Augustine [354 - 430] CE for the power and pervasiveness of the notion of "original
sin."
4. Ritual of Exorcism (for possession by a devil, Satan [Lucifer]);
5. Ritual of
Excommunication [from the one true church];
6. Ritual of Transformation of bread and
wine during Sacrament of Holy Communion;
7. Ritual of Repentance for one's [even
cardinal] sins at the time of death [Salvation];
8. Ritual of Confession before a priest;
9. The Holy Scriptures are sacred; (Old Testament, New Testament; The Koran, The Egyptian
Book of the Dead, etc.);
10. Jesus Christ was the Son of God [Trinity], who died on the cross for our sins.
Nevertheless, the fellowship and moral teachings of the Church, like the Ten Commandments,
the Golden Rule, or Confucianism (the negative of the Golden Rule), have merit [when properly
interpreted for modern use].
Fortunately for Galileo, during his inquisition for blasphemy, the punishment was merely house
arrest until he died years later, although it took many centuries for the Roman Catholic Church to
exonerate him. Today's Taliban would destroy every vestige of Western Civilization if given
the opportunity, including the obliteration of the standing Buddhas in Afghanistan on the grounds
that they were sacrilegious in the eyes of their own brand of Islam (Shite/Sunni?). Similar
arguments for burning the scrolls in the Library of Alexandria or very recently the thousands of
unique manuscripts in the library of a mosque in Timbuktu, MALI bring tears to my eyes.
- - L Stephen Coles, Self-Appointed Custodian for the Libraries of Civilization [which
fortunately are now distributed on the Internet Cloud]
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Ref.: 1. Jack Miles, God: A Biography (446 pages; Vintage Press; 1996). In this biography, God emerges as troubled, moody, vengeful, misogynistic entity, occasionally benevolent, frequently angry, even though we are told to believe that we were made in his image, and so He/She should be like us in many respects. He is tragically overburdened, alternately creator, destroyer, judge, warrior, answerer of prayers, first affectionate and forgiving, and then bitter. He cannot be assembled into a single coherent whole, as an elderly, bearded gentleman living in Heaven of the sort that adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican as portrayed by Michaelangelo [c. 1510].