SUPERCENTENARIANS 110+

(Investigator 143, 2012 March)

Claude Choules of Australia died in 2011 aged 110. For a list of 964 genuine "Supercentenarians" to 2007, i.e. people who lived to 110 or longer, and others alive now, see the website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_Supercentenarians

The oldest is Jeanne Calment of France who died at 122. She and Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper (115) are mentioned in Neurobiology of Aging. (Volume 29, p. 1127) Their ages and 962 others who died aged between 110 and 121 are credible.

How credible are most other reports of people living beyond 120 years? For example:

Hohua Ahowhenua (1765-1889) of Matamata Plains, New Zealand, in accordance with tribal custom after having tilled his fields until the age of 122 was abandoned in a deserted village to starve. He lived to the age of 124 by capturing and eating peacocks.  (Ripley's Giant Believe It or Not! 1985)

Thomas Parr was born in the County of Salopp, England in 1483 A.D. and died in 1635 A.D. —  152 Years! Thomas Parr lived a vigorous, active life and married his first wife when he was 80-years old, and his second in 1605 when aged 122. He fathered his first child when he was over 130 years old. After Parr's death, an English doctor named William Harvey (he discovered the circulation of blood) was hired by King Charles to perform an autopsy to find out why Thomas Parr lived so long. Dr. Harvey's autopsy report…says all of Parr's organs were in perfect condition and, his colon was as clean and healthy as that of a child!
www.ultimatecoloncleanse.com/coloncleansing.html?or_sub=1

Brazilian Maria do Carmo was the world's oldest woman when she died at 129 this week.  (The Advertiser 2000, June 17, p32)

Table 1 below of long-lived people is from Chapter 3 of The Seed (1980) by anthropologist/theologian Arthur C. Custance (1910-1985).

Many websites naively reproduce Custance's list and even include individuals he left unnamed and listed as "Gentleman", "A Peasant", "A Negress" and "Unnamed Lady". I've deleted all unnamed ones from the table and also those aged below 110.
 
Custance includes some people of Vilcabamba. The Advertiser (1973, February 12) reported on "Shangri-la" in Ecuador in a mountain valley known as Vilcabamba: "the valley's oldest inhabitants were 142-year-old Jose David and 123-year-old Miguel Carpio."

An earlier report about centenarians in Vilcabamba appeared in National Geographic 1973, January.

In 1978, however, the longevity claims were exposed as a scam to promote tourism. The locals had fooled reporters by pretending that the names of fathers or grandfathers in church baptism records were their own.

Other researchers reported centenarian communities in the Soviet Union, Mexico, Pakistan, and other Asian countries.  Custance says that the Soviet Union census of 1959 counted 578 people aged over 120 years! Again fraud cannot be ruled out. Some were probably cases of sons or grandsons who, decades earlier, had taken their father's or grandfather's identity to escape military service.   

The apparent married couple in Table 1, Iwan and Elizabeth Yorath (1465-1621 & 1491-1668), are also mentioned in The Bible Comes Alive (5th edition 1940) by Sir Charles Marston as evidence for the longevity of Bible characters.

Table 2 is based on Fortean Times (FT) and Ripley's Believe It or Not! (R) and lists some of the people who achieved longevity notoriety after Custance was published or which he otherwise omitted.

Custance's list includes Attila the Hun and gives his age at death from haemorrhage as 124. Attila led armies of marauding Huns into Greece, Hungary, France and Italy and he married a Burgundian princess just before he died. Excessive vigorous activity in his 120s such as horse-riding, fighting battles, and sex with a princess can theoretically account for his sudden death. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, however, says Attila lived 406-453CE — a mere 47 years.

Custance is uncritical of all extreme-longevity claims including the Vilcabamba claims, and he also writes: "Pliny records from a census of 76 A.D. in the days of Emperor Vespasian that there were living in the valley between the Apennines and the Po River 124 persons over the age of 100, two of whom were 135, four were 137, and three were 140."

Li Chang-Yun, the oldest person Custance listed, was reported in The New York Times (1933, May 6) which stated he was a resident of Kaihsien in the Province of Szechwan, had outlived 23 wives, and: "In 1930…Professor Wu Chung-chien, dean of the department of Education in Minkuo University, had found records showing Li was born in 1677 and that Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th birthdays…"

A useful website listing "Supercentenarians" is mentioned in my introduction, and that website stops with Jeanne Calment who died aged 122. Every claim above 122 should be considered very dubious.

Table 1  (Based on Custance chapter 3)

PERSON	LOCATION	DEATH	AGE
Astana Shlarba	Georgia, USSR	1966	110
Elizabeth Lambe	West Indies	1830	110
Thomas Robinson	Ontario, Canada	1970	110
Ada Roe	England	1970	111
Jim Ho	Canada	1976	111
John Turner	England	1968	111
Spencer Church	Ontario, Canada	1961	111
Caesar Paul	Ontario, Canada	1975	112
Josef  Mittelstadt	Prussia	1792	112
Annie Firlotte	New Brunswick, Canada	1954	113
Arma Darendonian	France	1972	113
Francis Hongo	Venice	1702	113
Gabriel Sanchez	Vilcabamba	1976	113
Amina Orujeva	Azerbaijan, USSR	1967	114
Zibeida Sheidayeva	Azerbaijan, USSR	1974	114
Johnny Murtee	Australia	1976	115
Teb Sharmat	Abkhasia, USSR	1966	115
Walter Williams	Texas, USA	1959	117
Mary Mills	West Indies	1805	118
Jane Morgan	Jamaica	1830	120
Mary Goodsall	Jamaica	1820	120
Mr. C. Cotterel	Philadelphia, USA	1760?	120
Charles Layne	Virginia, USA	1821	121
Mrs Gray	Kent, England	1770	121
Rev. Toby Crosby	Florida, USA	1976	122
Sabir Kurbonadaov	Tajik Republic, USSR	1973	122
Demetrius Liondos	Greece	1970	123
John Gilley	Maine, USA	1813	123
Noah Raby	New Jersey, USA	1895	123
Attila, the Hun	Germany	453	124
Francisco Rubjo	Mexico	1943	124
Thomas Wishart	Scotland	1760	124
Sylvester Magee	Missouri, USA	196?	126
Mary Yates	England	1776	127
Miguel Carpio	Vilcabamba	1976	127
Eglebert Hoff	New York, USA	1764	128
Balakishi Orujeva	Azerbaijan, USSR	1967	130
Ephriam Zithundu Zulu	South Africa	1975	130
Francis Peat	Jamaica	1830	130
Margaret Darby	Jamaica	1821	130
Ramonotowane Seran	Bechuanaland	1945	130
Peter Garden	Scotland	1775	131
Gabriel Erazo	Vilcabamba	1976	132
Mathayo Achungo	Kenya	1976	132
Charlie Smith	Florida, USA	1976	133
Beim Mekraliyeva	Azerbaijan, USSR	1966	134
Henry Francisco	New York, USA	1820	134
Anton Pilya	Georgia, USSR	1965	135
Nicholas Petours	Germany	1775?	137
Juan Moroygota	Columbia	1828	138
Lasuria Khfaf	Azerbaijan, USSR	1974	140
Meclahig Agayev	Azerbaijan, USSR	1976	140
William Hotchluss	St. Louis, USA	1895	140
Jose David	Vilcabamba	1973	142
Hilario Pari	Peru	1807?	143
Jean Effingham	Cornwall, England	1757	144
Countess of Desmond	England	1619	145
Joseph Bam	Jamaica	1821	146
Bridget Devine	England	1845	147
C. J. Drakenberg	Denmark	1772	150
Catherine Hiatt	Jamaica	1831	150
Mahmoud Nivazov	Azerbaijan, USSR	1959	150
G. Stanley	England	1719	151
Judith Crawford	Jamaica	1829	151
Thomas Parr	England	1635	152
Thomas Newman	England	1542	153
Asmar Salakhova	Armenia	1966	154
Iwan Yorath	England-Wales	1621	156
Sampson Skakoragaro	Tanzania	1969	158
Joseph Surrington	Norway	?	160
Robert Lynch	Jamaica	1830	160
Sarah Desson Rovin	England	1741	164
Zaro Aga	USA	1932	164
Jonas Warren	Ireland	1787	167
Ali Ashraf Husseini	Iran	1976	168
Shirali Mislimov	Azerbaijan, USSR	1973	168
Henry Jenkins	England	1670	169
Javier Pereira	Columbia	1958	169
Jean Korin	Hungary	?	172
John Gower	England	?	172
John Rovin	England	1741	172
Baba Harainsingh	India	1952	176
Elizabeth Yorath	England-Wales	1668	177
Kentigren	Scotland	600	185
Peter Torton	England	1724	185
Petrarsh Zartan	Hungary	1724	187
Li Chang-Yun	China	1933	256

PERSON	LOCATION	DEATH	AGE
Emperor Ojin-Tenno     R	Japan	310	109
Ivan Tchghelovski          R	Russia	1847	110
Luang Pu Supha           FT	Thailand	2010	113
Tane Ikai                        FT	USA	1996	114
Saw Mya Kyi                 FT	Burma	2010	118
Barbara Viertaler           R	Austria	1812?	119?
Robert Gibson                R	USA	1885	119
Atidje Starkova             FT	Bulgaria	1996	120
Dr. James Muatt             R	Scotland	1776	120
Clement Olheim             R	France	1812	122
Susie Brunson               FT	USA	1994	123
Hohua Ahowhenua         R	New Zealand	1889	124
Haume Solmaz              FT	Turkey	2010	125
Juana Rodriguez            FT	Cuba	2010	125
Francisco Barriosnuevo Choperana FT	Columbia	?	125+
Swift Arrow                      R	Chippewa Indian Chief	1917	129
Antisa Khvichava            FT	Georgia, Soviet Union	2010	130
Saleem Bin Naseeb Al Haddad Al Hajri  FT	Oman	1995	130
Raimundo Gomes De Santos   FT	Brazil	?	133
Zolfali Soltanmoradi        FT	Iran	1995	140
Gong Laifa                       FT	China	1995	147
Amm Atwa Moussa        FT	Egypt	?	150
Turina                                FT	Sumatra	2010	157

(BS)

Ages of people older than 122 years are not credibly confirmed! You can investigate
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