Man from India Age 123 (?)

March 31, 2000 (AP) -- An Associated Press story today records the Government of India has granted an honor to Mr. Swami Kalyan Dev, said to have been born in 1876 and now aged 123 years. However, it is unclear what evidence supports this claim.

Analysis by Mr. Louis Epstein, Centenarian Demographer

Acceptance by a government, one would like to think means something...but this is not always the case, and I am unsure about keeping Izykowska and Batariu on our lists. The Guinness Book has tended to be more exacting, and yet their certification of Joubert has been found lacking.

The United States Social Security Administration has recorded numerous cases of persons dying at ages over 160, 170, or 180 that have to be greeted with massive skepticism. The most extreme is that of Elener Skundor, allegedly born December 11th 1800 and died at 191 in 1992. No other deaths in 1992 are recorded for persons born before 1874; before 1877 (from which birth year there were three, including the Guinness-accepted Ettie Greene who is on our list) there are only a man born 1874 (whose birthday is given as December 25 -- a popular "take a stab" for those with no birth records) and a woman born 1875 (whose SSN was not issued until 1973).