By definition, a supercentenarian is anyone who has been validated to have lived to be 110 years or older.
Our GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List is now autoupdated in real time. We have changed the path to the GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List ("WSRL") on our website. Please observe the new path below:
CLICK HERE for World Supercentenarian Rankings List
The previous path to the GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List (https://grg.org/Adams/TableE.html) is being discontinued and will be removed at a later date. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.
OFFICIAL TABLES on the GRG website will continue to be updated on a regular basis by our GRG Admin Team members Waclaw Jan Kroczek of Tarnowskie Góry, Silesia Voivodeship, Poland, and Robert Young of Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Please note that the legacy Table E is an historical archive ONLY (data as of January 1, 2015):
Chiyo Miyako, World's Oldest Person, Dies Aged 117
July 31, 2018; The world's oldest verified person, Chiyo Miyako, died on July 22, 2018, at the age of 117 years, 81 days. She became the oldest verified living person in the world on April 21, 2018, following the death of fellow Japanese woman Nabi Tajima.
Chiyo was born in Wakayama, Kansai, Japan, on 2 May 1901. Chiyo's husband, Shoji, worked for Japanese National Railways, so she was able to travel.
Her love was calligraphy, something she started learning during childhood, and had been creating calligraphic works until recently. Her other pastime was eating delicious food, with sushi and eels being her regular favourite.
According to her family, Chiyo was very chatty. Referring to her as "the goddess", they described her as a patient and kind person who brought happiness to those who met her.
Chiyo aged 114:
Nabi Tajima, of Japan, 117, Oldest Living Person, dies
April 22, 2018; The world's oldest person, Nabi Tajima, died on April 21 at the age of 117 years, 260 days. Tajima had been recognized as the world's oldest person since the death of Jamaican woman Violet Brown in September 2017. She had been hospitalized since January.
Born in Araki, Japan on August 4, 1900, she had nine children and 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. At the time of her death, she was living in the town of Kikai on Kikaijima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
Nabi Tajima's secret to longevity was "eating delicious things and sleeping well". She danced with her hands at the sound of a samisen, a traditional three-string instrument. "She passed away as if falling asleep. As she had been a hard worker, I want to tell her 'rest well,'" said Tajima's 65-year-old grandson Hiroyuki.
At the time of her death, Tajima was the oldest Japanese person ever, the third oldest verified person ever and the oldest person to live in the 21st century.
Nabi Tajima aged 117:
Masazo Nonaka, 112 confirmed as world's oldest living man
April 11, 2018; Guinness World Records has officially awarded Japan's Masazo Nonaka the title of Oldest person living (male), at the age of 112 years and 259 days. Mr. Nonaka was born on 25 July 1905 and lives in the town of Ashoro on the island of Hokkaido, Japan.
Masazo Nonaka married Hatsuno in 1931, with whom he had five children. He now spends his time watching TV, reading newspapers and indulging in sweets and cakes. He also likes to spend time with his family, either at home or in their B&B, and their two cats called Kuro and Haru.
Mr Nonaka believes his longevity is down to soaking in hot springs and eating sweets, while his daughter says it is because he lives his life in a way that doesn't bring him stress.
Masazo's record was confirmed following an extensive research and evidence review process by Robert Young, Guinness World Records senior consultant for gerontology and the co-director for the Gerontology Research Group.
Francisco Nunez Olivera, 113, was world's oldest man
February 16, 2018; Gerontology Research Group can confirm that, prior to his death on January 29, Francisco Nunez-Olivera of Spain was the world's oldest man. Nunez-Olivera was born in Bienvenida, Extremadura, Spain on December 13, 1904. He spent most of his life working as a farmer and leaves four children, nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Nunez-Olivera became known locally as "Marchena" after a young child mistook him for the Spanish flamenco singer Pepe Marchena. He enjoyed going for walks around his village of Bienvenida and was able to do so until he was 107 years old. Speaking to Spanish newspaper El Mundo in 2015, he said: "I know I'm old, but I don't feel old."
The verification of this case proved problematic as a number of highly important documents are believed to have been lost or destroyed in wartime. The case was eventually accepted based on proxy validation methods, including finding military enlistment records that referenced the original birth records.
Nabi Tajima, 117, becomes World's Oldest Person
December 19, 2017; After the death of Mrs. Violet Moss Brown, who passed away on September 15, 2017, the Gerontology Research Group regards Mrs. Nabi Tajima as the new World's Oldest Person.
Tajima was born in Araki, then known as Wan Village, in Kikaijima Island. She had 9 children, and as of 2017, had over 160 descendants, including great-great-great-grandchildren. She currently lives in Kikai, Kagoshima. Tajima has claimed her secret to longevity is eating delicious things and sleeping well. She likes hand-dancing to music when the shamisen is played.
Nabi Tajima at the age of 117. Photos courtesy of Takeo Inishie.
Violet Brown, of Jamaica, 117, Oldest Living Person, dies
September 18, 2017; The Gerontology Research Group would like to honor the life of Violet Moss Brown, of Montego Bay, Jamaica, who passed away at the age of 117 on Friday night, September 15, 2017. Born on March 10, 1900, Violet was the oldest verified person to live in the 21st century and the oldest undisputed black person ever.
Brown was born as Violet Moss in Duanvale, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica on March 10, 1900. She was baptized at age 13 at the Trittonvale Baptist Church and remained a member throughout her life, long serving as an organist. She married Augustus Brown and had one daughter with him. In addition, she had six other children, the oldest of whom, Harold Fairweather, died in April 2017 at the age of 97. He is believed to be the oldest person ever with a living parent at the time of his death. Brown spent much of her life cutting sugar cane near her home in the Duanvale district. Her husband Augustus died in 1978.
On her 110th birthday, aside from deafness, Violet was reported as being in good overall physical shape. She stated that she didn't feel her age, and attributed her long life to God, respecting her parents, working hard and eating coconut sauce. Her favourite pastimes include going to church, reading books and listening to music. At the age of 113, Brown was still in excellent overall health, with her memory still intact. At age 115, she was still able to walk (with the help of a walker) and could read without any glasses. In an interview this year with The Associated Press, Brown said she was surprised but grateful to have lived so long. "This is what God has given me, so I have to take it," she said.
Israel Kristal, 113, oldest living man, dies
August 11, 2017; Israel Kristal, verified by the Gerontology Research Group as the oldest living man in the world, passed away today at 2pm aged 113 years, 330 days. He is the ninth-oldest verified man ever and the oldest person ever from Israel. Furthermore, Kristal is the oldest Holocaust survivor ever and the oldest Jewish male on record.
Born as Izrael Icek Krysztal to Mojzesz Dawid Krysztal and Brucha Krysztal (nee Rojt) in the Polish village of Malenie, (then part of the Russian Empire) on September 15, 1903; his mother died only ten years later in 1913. As his father was drafted during the First World War, Kristal was forced to work hard on a farm to earn his living as a teenager. In 1920, he was reunited with his father and siblings in Lodz, where the family opened a confectionary. Israel Kristal became a candy maker, which would remain his lifelong profession; later, this would prompt reporters world-wide to refer to his story as a "bittersweet long life" in articles devoted to him.
In 1928, at the age of 25, Israel Kristal married Chaja Fajga Frucht in Wegleszyn, Poland. The couple had two children. The Kristal family ran a local chocolate and candy business until the outbreak of the Second World War, when Lodz was occupied by Nazi-Germany. The Nazis forced the Jewish population of Lodz, including the Kristal family, to move to a district called the "Litzmannstadt Ghetto"; Israel Kristal would live there for four years, until he was deported to Auschwitz in August 1944, where he would remain for another three months. Subsequently, he would be a prisoner in the labour camps of Wuestegiersdorf, Doernau, and Schottenwerk, where he would regain his freedom in May 1945 by the hands of allied forces. Although his wife and children had been killed in the Holocaust, Israel Kristal did not lose his will to live after this devastating loss. Instead, he returned to Lodz, where he would restart the confectionary and marry his second wife, Szejwa (nee Chuda). Together, they had a son: Chaim Dawid. In 1950, Mr. Kristal and his family decided to leave Poland to settle in Haifa, Israel, where he has lived ever since.
Due to the hardships Mr. Kristal had to face in his early life, the validation of his age proved to be extremely difficult; even though the first attempts to validate Mr. Kristal's age had started in early 2014, a breakthrough was only realised in January 2016. In order to validate his age, the Gerontology Research Group not only contacted Mr. Kristal's family, but also international institutions specializing in genealogical research; therefore, a special word of appreciation should go to the Jewish Records Indexing in Poland. As a result of this international cooperation, sufficient early-life, middle-life, and late-life evidence was obtained to meet modern validation standards.
To read an obituary article, click here.
Various photos from throughout his life can be found here. The correct spelling of "Israel" Kristal's name does not include a "Y". However, some news organizations "transliterated" the spelling from Hebrew, not realizing that the original documents from Poland used "Izrael", which was later changed to "Israel" by the family when Mr. Kristal moved to Israel.
Mr Kristal receives his World's Oldest Man certificate from Marco Frigatti, Head of Records at Guinness World Records.
Emma Morano, of Italy, 117, Oldest Living Person, dies
April 15, 2017; The Gerontology Research Group would like to honor the life of Emma Martina Luigia Morano, of Verbania, Italy, who passed away at the age of 117 on Saturday afternoon, April 15, 2017, at about 4:40pm local time sitting up in her chair. Born on November 29, 1899, Emma was the last known verified person to be born in the 19th century, so her life spanned three centuries. In May 2016, Emma Morano was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the titles of Oldest Living Person and Oldest Living Woman.
Raised in Vercelli, Italy, the oldest of eight siblings, Emma Morano later moved to Verbania on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Italy where she remained for the majority of her life. Emma was engaged to a man who was called to the front during the First World War. Devastatingly, she never saw him again and assumed he had died. She married Giovanni Martinuzzi in 1926. She gave birth to her only child in 1937, who died at 6 months old. She separated from Martinuzzi the next year, but never divorced him. She worked in a jute factory and at a boarding school kitchen. She retired at 75, more than 40 years ago.
Longevity seems to run in Morano's family: Her mother lived to 91, and some of her sisters made it to a century. But it was the peculiar diet she began after World War I that Morano says helped her become one of the oldest people ever. When she was a teenager, a doctor suggested that Morano eat raw eggs to combat her anemia. She followed a stringent diet of two raw eggs, one cooked egg, a little minced meat and pasta for the past 90 years. As a supercentenarian who lived in her apartment being taken care of by caregivers, she enjoyed a steady stream of visitors, including when she was recognized as the oldest person in the world. Several Gerontology Research Group correspondents had the honor of getting to meet and know Emma Morano during her amazing life!
Emma Morano, 116, becomes World's Oldest Person
May 13, 2016; After the death of Mrs. Susannah Mushatt Jones, who passed away on 12 May 2016, the Gerontology Research Group regards Mrs. Emma Morano as the new World's Oldest Person. Mrs. Morano, aged 116, now receives the symbolic status of "last surviving link to the 1800s".
Mrs. Emma Morano was born in Civiasco, Italy, to parents Giovanni Morano and Matilde Bresciani as the oldest of eight children on 29 November 1899. Growing up, Mrs. Morano struggled with health issues such as anaemia. On doctor's advice, she would start eating one raw egg a day - a diet she has maintained ever since. In 1926, Mrs. Morano was married to Giovanni Martinuzzi, a marriage she would rather not talk about. The marriage produced one son, born in 1937, but unfortunately he died after a couple of months. Having separated - but not divorced - from her husband in 1938, Mrs. Morano has lived alone ever since, and accredits this as one of the key secrets to her longevity. The third secret of her longevity, Mrs. Morano has revealed, is her daily glass of homemade brandy. During her life, Mrs. Morano worked several jobs, until she retired at the age of 75.
Living independently in Verbania, a town in Northern Italy situated on the shore of Lago Maggiore, Mrs. Morano is helped by her niece and regularly visited by her physician, who both report her to be doing incredibly well for her age; she can still walk around, enjoy the occasional nocturnal biscuit, and laments about her passion for singing and music. She has gained increasing media coverage over the last couple of years, when her age became increasingly remarkable in her country; last year, she became the oldest Italian ever, passing the previous record set by Mrs. Dina Manfredini. Moreover, she also became the second-oldest European person ever, trailing only Mrs. Jeanne Calment, who died at the age of 122 years old.
Link to the Jeanne Calment validation: www.demogr.mpg.de/books/odense/6/09.htm
Even though the GRG regards Mrs. Morano as the World's Oldest Person, this record is not yet official. For official confirmation, her age must first be authenticated by Guinness World Records. On top of that, there is always a small possibility that older claimants turn out to exist, only emerging now. However, the GRG is confident that Mrs. Morano will be officially pronounced as the World's Oldest Person in a matter of weeks.
Susannah Mushatt Jones, 116, world's oldest person, dies
May 13, 2016; Susannah Mushatt Jones, the oldest verified person in the world and the last living American born in the 1800s, has died in New York at the age of 116 years, 311 days.
Born in an Alabama farm on July 6, 1899, Susannah Mushatt Jones was the daughter of crop pickers and the granddaughter of slaves. On March 4, 1922, she graduated from the Calhoun Boarding High School and the graduation roster recognized her for studying "Negro Music in France". After graduation, Mushatt Jones wanted to become a teacher and was accepted to Tuskegee Institute's Teacher's Program. However, her parents were unable to afford the tuition, so in 1923 she moved to New York to further her ambitions.
In 1928, she married Henry Jones; but they divorced after five years, with no children. She subsequently worked as a childminder for wealthy families and supported many of her relatives as they moved to New York. She also used some of her salary to help establish The Calhoun Club, a college scholarship fund for African American women. In 1965, she retired and moved in with her niece, Lavilla Watson, helping to care for Watson's baby son.
Despite becoming legally blind at the age of 100, Ms Jones remained active well into her centenarian years, serving as a member of the tenant patrol of her nursing home until she was 106. She claimed that the secrets to her longevity included plenty of sleep and no smoking, in addition to the less healthy practice of eating four strips of bacon with scrambled egg every day.
In her final years, Mushatt Jones was blind and partially deaf; she retained limited lucidity and used a wheelchair. At the age of 111, Mushatt Jones moved into the Vandalia Senior Center in Brooklyn. On her 112th birthday, she received tribute letters from the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York. After the celebration, she said, "I wish it could be like this all the time." On her 115th, her niece, Lois Judge, told WABC-TV that Jones "gets tired easily these days, but it has been a good day today."
Mushatt Jones became the world's oldest living person and one of two remaining people verified to have been born in the 1800s upon the death of Jeralean Talley on June 17, 2015. On July 3, 2015, three days before her 116th birthday, she was presented with a certificate from Guinness World Records recognizing her as the oldest person alive.
Mushatt Jones received tributes from the United States House of Representatives and from the Alabama House of Representatives "for a remarkable lifetime of exceptional achievement lived during three centuries."
An Italian woman, Emma Morano, now takes on the title of oldest person in the world, and is thought to be the last living person to have been born in the 1890s.
Click here to see our photo gallery entry for Susannah Mushatt Jones.
Guinness World Records recognises Polish-born Israeli Israel Kristal as the current World's Oldest Living Man
The GRG is pleased to announce that Israel Kristal (born Sept. 15, 1903) has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the World's Oldest Man. Mr. Kristal's life tells a most remarkable story, with being a Holocaust survivor only one of the many hardships he has had to face. Israel Kristal was born as Izrael Icek Krysztal to Mojzesz Dawid Krysztal and Brucha Krysztal (nee Rojt) in the Polish village of Malenie (then part of the Russian Empire) on September 15, 1903; his mother would die only ten years later in 1913. As his father was drafted during the First World War, Kristal was forced to work hard on a farm to earn his living as a teenager. In 1920, he was reunited with his father and siblings in Lodz, where the family opened a confectionary. Israel Kristal became a candy maker, which would remain his lifelong profession; later, this would prompt reporters world-wide to refer to his story as a "bittersweet long life" in articles devoted to him. In 1928, at the age of 25, Israel Kristal married Chaja Fajga Frucht in Wegleszyn, Poland. The couple had two children. The Kristal family ran a local chocolate and candy business until the outbreak of the Second World War, when Lodz was occupied by Nazi-Germany. The Nazis forced the Jewish population of Lodz, including the Kristal family, to move to a district called the "Litzmannstadt Ghetto"; Israel Kristal would live there for four years, until he was deported to Auschwitz in August 1944, where he would remain for another three months. Subsequently, he would be a prisoner in the labour camps of Wuestegiersdorf, Doernau, and Schottenwerk, where he would regain his freedom in May 1945 by the hands of allied forces. Although his wife and children had been killed in the Holocaust, Israel Kristal did not lose his will to live after this devastating loss. Instead, he returned to Lodz, where he would restart the confectionary and marry his second wife, Szejwa (nee Chuda). Together, they had a son: Chaim Dawid. In 1950, Mr. Kristal and his family decided to leave Poland to settle in Haifa, Israel, where he has lived ever since.
Due to the hardships Mr. Kristal had to face in his early life, the validation of his age proved to be extremely difficult; even though the first attempts to validate Mr. Kristal's age had started in early 2014, a breakthrough was only realised in January 2016. In order to validate his age, the Gerontology Research Group not only contacted Mr. Kristal's family, but also international institutions specializing in genealogical research; therefore, a special word of appreciation should go to the Jewish Records Indexing in Poland. As a result of this international cooperation, sufficient early-life, middle-life, and late-life evidence was obtained to meet modern validation standards. As a result of this, Mr. Kristal has now been recognised as the oldest living man in the world.
As of today, Mr. Israel Kristal is the second validated supercentenarian in the history of Israel, after Dr. Maria Pogonowska (1897-2009), who was also born in Poland. On top of that, he is the new longevity record-holder of Israel.
Written by: GRG Poland Correspondent, Waclaw Jan Kroczek
World's Oldest Man, Yasutaro Koide, of Nagoya Prefecture, Japan, dies at age 112
World's Oldest Man, Yasutaro Koide, of Nagoya Prefecture, Japan, previously of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has died of heart failure and pneumonia in Nagoya on January 19, 2016.
Here's an article about his death:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/19/asia/japan-oldest-man-dies/index.html?eref=edition
Here's an article about about him, written when he was confirmed as the World's Oldest Man:
His Photo Gallery can be found here:
https://grg.org/Gallery/1903Gallery.html#Yasutaro_Koide