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)
THE
DUBIOUS
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 |
Table 2 (Based
on Ripley's & Fortean Times)
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 |
References:
Fortean Times
No. 89
August 1996, pp 14-15
Ripley's
Giant Believe It
or Not! 1985, Bonanza Books, NY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Custance
www.custance.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_Supercentenarians
(BS)