Oldest people
The longest unambiguously documented lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875-1997) who was aged 122 years and 164 days at the time of her death. Jeanne Calment met Vincent Van Gogh when aged 14, and in 1988 this led to her, at age 113, becoming noticed by the media. Subsequent investigation found that her life was documented in the records of her native city of Arles, France beyond reasonable question. In fact, more evidence for the Calment case has been produced than for any other supercentenarian case, which makes her case a 'gold standard' among the 'oldest people' recordholders. This is contrasted with the now-disputed claim of age 120 for the oldest man ever, Shigechiyo Izumi. While recognized by Guinness, even the Japanese authorities have hinted that his age was not certain. This claim was accepted in 1978 but subsequent additional research (as early as 1984) has raised doubt as to whether he was wrongly conflated with a brother who died at a young age.
Presently, the oldest verified living person is the 116-years old Maria Esther de Capovilla of Ecuador, born September 14, 1889. The oldest verified living man is Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico, born August 21, 1891.
The following tables list notable oldest people, in various categories. For supercentenarians known for anything other than their extreme age, see the centenarians article.
Official oldest living person
The following is a list of the people who have held the title of oldest recognized person in the world since 1955 (the year Guinness records began). This list does not reflect the original lists but is instead 'retroactive'--for example, the Betsy Baker case was not verified until the 2000's.
Since retroactive to May 29, 2004, the title-holder is María Capovilla of Ecuador. She was born on September 14, 1889 and is aged 116 as of July 2006.
She was placed on the list on December 9, 2005, when Guinness recognized her claim. She displaced both Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper of the Netherlands, who had been considered the title-holder from May 29, 2004, and Elizabeth Bolden of Memphis, Tennessee, who had been considered the title-holder since August 30, 2005.
Official oldest living man
Among the oldest ever (115+)
Among the oldest men ever (Top 10)
Name | Age | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shigechiyo Izumi | 120? yr 237 d | 29 June 1865? | 21 February 1986 | Oldest documented male supercentenarian (disputed) |
Christian Mortensen | 115 yr 252 d | 16 August 1882 | 25 April 1998 | Oldest undisputed male, Danish immigrant to U.S. |
Emiliano Mercado del Toro | 115 yr + | 21 August 1891 | - | Oldest living man (since November 19, 2004) |
Mathew Beard | 114 yr 222d | 9 July 1870 | 16 February 1985 | Oldest native-born American man |
Yukichi Chuganji | 114 yr 189 d | 23 March 1889 | 28 September 2003 | Second-oldest Japanese man |
Joan Riudavets | 114 yr 81 d | 15 December 1889 | 5 March 2004 | Spanish longevity recordholder |
Fred H. Hale, Sr. | 113 yr 354 d | 1 December 1890 | 19 November 2004 | Born in Maine, oldest man in the world March-November 2004, died in Jamesville, New York |
Johnson Parks | 113 yr 275 d | 15 October 1884 | 17 July 1998 | Black American, lived in Florida |
John Ingram McMorran | 113 yr 250 d | 19 June 1889 | 24 February 2003 | American, lived in Florida |
Frederick L. Frazier | 113 yr 138 d | 27 January 1880 | 14 June 1993 | American, lived in Alabama |
The oldest people, currently living (Top 10)
# | Name | Age | Sex | Born | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | María Capovilla | 116 | F | 14 September 1889 | Oldest living person in the world since 30 May 2004, oldest ever in Ecuador |
2 | Elizabeth Bolden | 116 | F | 15 August 1890 | Oldest verified living American, was thought to be oldest in the world from 30 August to 9 December 2005 |
3 | Emiliano Mercado del Toro | 115 | M | 21 August 1891 | Oldest living man (since 19 November 2004) |
4 | Julie Winnefred Bertrand | 114 | F | 16 September 1891 | Oldest living Canadian |
5 | Emma Tillman | 113 | F | 22 November 1892 | Oldest living person in Connecticut |
6 | Yone Minagawa | 113 | F | 4 January 1893 | Oldest living person in Japan |
7 | Moses Hardy | 113 | M | 6 January 1893 (or 1894) | Oldest living man in the United States |
8 | Edna Parker | 113 | F | 20 April 1893 | Oldest living person in Indiana |
9 | Maria de Jesus | 112 | F | 10 September 1893 | Oldest living person in Portugal and in Western Europe |
10 | Giulia Sani-Casagli | 112 | F | 15 September 1893 | Oldest living Italian |
The oldest men, currently living (Top 10)
# | Name | Age | Born | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Emiliano Mercado del Toro | 115 | 21 August 1891 | Oldest living man (since 19 November 2004) |
2 | Moses Hardy | 113 | 6 January 1893 (or 1894) | Oldest living man in the United States |
3 | George Johnson | 112 | 1 May 1894 | Lives in California |
4 | Maurice Floquet | 111 | 25 December 1894 | Oldest living man in France |
5 | Ernest Pusey | 111 | 5 May 1895 | Lives in Florida |
6 | Thomas Nelson Sr | 111 | 8 July 1895 | Lives in Texas |
7 | Tomoji Tanabe | 110 | 18 September 1895 | Oldest living man in Japan, lives in Miyazaki |
8 | Chojo Fukuhara | 110 | 12 October 1895 | Lives in Okinawa |
9 | Hiromi Minataka | 110 | 19 December 1895 | Lives in Wakayama |
10 | Antonio Pierro | 110 | 22 February 1896 | Oldest living man in Massachusetts (born in Italy) |
Notably early among supercentenarians
Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Thomas Peters | 1745 | 1857 | Earliest supercentenarian recognized by Guinness Book of Records |
Geert Adriaans Boomgaard | 1788 | 1899 | Earliest supercentenarian recognized by scholars |
Margaret Ann Neve | 1792 | 1903 | recordholder for Channel Islands (UK) |
Louisa Kirwan Thiers | 1814 | 1926 | New York |
Delina Filkins | 1815 | 1928 | Herkimer County, New York |
Katherine Plunket | 1820 | 1932 | Oldest person in the history of Ireland |
National longevity recordholders
By nation of death or current residence
Emigrant records
(listed for countries where an emigrant lived longer than any lifelong resident)
Country | Age | Sex | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denmark | 115 yr 252 d | M | Christian Mortensen | 16 August 1882 | 25 April 1998 | died U.S. |
Cape Verde | 114 yr 183 d | F | Adelina Domingues | 19 February 1888 | 21 August 2002 | died U.S. |
Germany | 114 yr 178 d | F | Charlotte Benkner | 16 November 1889 | 14 May 2004 | died U.S. |
Algeria | 114 yr 172 d | F | Anne Primout | 5 October 1890 | 26 March 2005 | died France |
India | 113 yr 197 d | F | Lucy d'Abreu | 24 May 1892 | 7 December 2005 | died U.K. |
Morocco | 111 yr 282 d | F | Consuelo Moreno-López | 5 February 1893 | 13 November 2004 | died U.S. |
Hungary | 111 yr + | F | Elizabeth Stefan | 13 May 1895 | - | lives in Connecticut, U.S. |
Greece | 110 yr 341 d | M | Gregory Pandazes | 15 January 1873 | 22 December 1983 | died U.S. |
Peru | 110 yr 106 d | F | Julia Dougherty | 20 August 1893 | 4 December 2003 | died U.S. |
Gerontology and the verification of age claims
Gerontology involves the tracking of the longest-lived proven individuals as the bio-markers of the human life span. The study of gerontology is usually credited to Michel Eugène Chevreul, a French chemist who died in 1889, aged 102. In the early years of the 21st century gerontology is benefiting from the improvements in record-keeping in the industrialized world from the latter part of the 19th century. As a result, verification standards have evolved and multiple independent documentary confirmations of birth-date are now required to substantiate a claim, rather than evidence deriving only from the claimant. For claims that have not been satisfactorily confirmed by Guinness World Records, considered the authority, see longevity claims.
Current trends in the lifespans of the oldest humans
The population and lifespans of the world's oldest people are continually increasing due to improvements in healthcare and lifestyle during the 19th and 20th centuries, and the increasing world population. While in 1837 the oldest verified person was aged 108 years, it is now (2006) no longer unheard of for individuals, especially females, to have lived 110 years and more. The term supercentenarian has been coined to describe this emerging population group.
See also
- Aging
- Centenarian
- Living national longevity recordholders
- Longevity
- Longevity claims
- Longevity myths
- Maximum life span
- Supercentenarian
References
- Louis Epstein: The Oldest Human Beings — list of validly-documented supercentenarians (by age and chronological), including a chronological list of the oldest living listed persons since 1955. (For a time in the 1960s the oldest living person did not reach 110.)
External links
- Supercentenarian tables at the Gerontology Research Group
- International Database on Longevity
- World's Oldest People hosted by Yahoo! Groups
- Guinness World Records with oldest living people