The longest person who lived. The longest living person in the world - who is he?

Gerontologists are scientists who study the problem of human aging, which is quite relevant today.

At the same time, experts related to the study of the capabilities of the human body argue that the age indicator is at a low level, since the human body is capable of leading an active lifestyle up to 120 years, and it turns out that humanity lives on average 30-40% less than allotted term. This is influenced by many factors, which can be seen in the example of people who have crossed the age threshold.

Definition of the concept

Centenarians are considered to be people whose age exceeds 90 years. This figure is officially presented in the WHO classification. However, in lately There is a tendency to include citizens who have celebrated their 100th anniversary in the “clan” of long-lived citizens. It must be said that there are many such people: in our country alone, which is considered one of the most unfavorable in terms of life expectancy, there are about 350 people, and the figure tends to increase every year. However, with precise definition There are some caveats to this concept:

Many of the world's centenarians, whose names are contained in the Guinness Book of Records, lead a fairly active lifestyle, but admit that they are tired of it. At the same time, such “old men” can often be found among representatives of the 30- summer age. As a result, the concept of “long-liver” makes sense to understand not only life expectancy in numbers, but also the ability to maintain clear consciousness and good health at that age.
The second most important point is that the centenarian has official documents that confirm the date of his birth. Here everything is much more complicated, since over the past century humanity has gone through military atrocities, countless different cataclysms that provoked the loss of papers. And ordinary family troubles can lead to such unpleasant consequences. For this reason, there are verified and presumed centenarians, the latter of whom have to present indirect evidence to confirm their age.

According to statistics, long-livers are much more common among the female population than among men. Scientists do not yet have an explanation for this fact. However, if you look at ordinary statistics, a similar trend is also observed there, for which there are well-founded reasons. So, one of the reasons is the numerous bad habits, as well as the excessive workload to which men are exposed.

Secrets of longevity

Scientists around the world are trying to unravel the mystery kept by long-lived people. In the process of numerous studies, they take into account the following factors:

ecology;
level of medicine and social opportunities;
nutritional features.

The region of residence is also taken into account, the factor of which occupies a leading position in the list of assumptions about the secret of longevity. So, it is noticed that it is enough large number elderly people live in mountainous regions. Japan, on the other hand, holds the record for the number of centenarians whose age has exceeded the 100-year mark. This fact even causes certain concerns among the government of the country, since the nation is aging, and the number of “elders” is constantly increasing.

However, scientists still cannot unravel the secrets of the centenarians living in the village of Acciaroli. Figuratively, among 500 village residents, 300 are over 100 years old. At the same time, they lead a fairly active lifestyle, not excluding the intimate component.

The Indian Hunza tribe is of particular interest to scientists. The names of representatives of this tribe cannot be found in the leading rankings of world centenarians. At the same time, living a life exceeding 110 years, the natives are the owners of acute vision, strong teeth, devoid of hints of caries, and excellent health. Here, the reason largely lies in the eating habits and lifestyle of the tribe members, who:

in food, preference is given to raw vegetable and fruit products, and significant occasions become the occasion to eat meat;
are constantly engaged physical culture and practice hardening the body.

Women 60 years old are still at reproductive age, giving birth to strong and healthy babies. And all the representatives of “Hunza” are distinguished by unbending optimism.

As for world states, here we should pay attention to our country. Many long-livers of Russia live in Abkhazia, whose residents also adhere to the principle of “optimism”, not taking bad things to heart. And they do it well, since people there live to be 120 years old. Also worth mentioning:

United States. This is a country with a decent number of centenarians. It would seem almost ruined ecological situation, as well as frequent stressful and depressive states, should have a negative impact on life expectancy. However high level medicine and economics are correcting the situation. Thus, today there are about 80 thousand centenarians living in the United States.
Cuba. It is impossible not to mention Cuba, which has about 3 thousand elderly citizens per 11 million population. The secret also lies in the government's close attention to health issues.
Taiwan. Another “long-living state”. Despite the small population, most of it is made up of people 100 years of age and older.

Centenarians of the Guinness Book of Records

The world's longest-living people, who were made famous by the Guinness Book of Records, are mostly female:

Maggie Pauline Barnes. She lived 115 years and 319 days. It is considered a real unique one, since she was able to go through such a long life path under conditions of slavery.
Tane Ikai. A Japanese woman who lived to be 116 years old claimed that her secret was her love of seafood.
Maria Louise Mailer. A Canadian by birth, she was able to reach the age of 117 years and 230 days, being able to work until the end of her life. At the same time, Maria Louise was the mother of 10 children, as well as a lover of alcohol and tobacco products.
Misao Okawa. Another representative of the Japanese nation, who passed away at the age of 117 years and 27 days.

Many of the representatives of age records have crossed the line of 116 years. But Sarah Knaus from the United States was able to live to 119 years.

As for the male category of the population, the following names can be found on this list:

Japanese Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to be 116 years old;
a Dane who emigrated to the States, Christian Mortensen, who lived 115 years and 252 days;
Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado del Toro managed to live to 115 years and 163 days.

The absolute record for the entire history of human existence was set by the Chinese Li Ching-Yun, who was 197 years old at the time of his death. However, some scientists, citing archival data, refute this age, changing it upward. For this reason, Lee Ching-Yun is the most famous centenarian in the world in history, a record that has not yet been broken by anyone.

Stories of centenarians

All centenarians on the planet have unique and interesting stories their lives, and also have the secrets of their own longevity. I would like to draw your attention to the most interesting and memorable:

Jeanne-Louise Calment

Born in France throughout many years topped the list of the longest living people on Earth with an age of 112 years and 164 days.

The main secret of longevity, according to Kalman herself, is constant physical activity. It must be said that the lady was a professional racer, and by the age of 85 she learned fencing. Jeanne Kalman before last days was of sound mind and retained a subtle sense of humor.

At the same time, the Frenchwoman drank a glass of port every day and was not averse to missing a cigarette or two.

Antisa Khvichava

Representative modern world is the Georgian Antisa Khvichava, who practically lived to be 133 years old. For 85 years, her main job was picking tea on plantations, which was due to her lack of literacy. At the same time, Khvichava was actively interested in scientific fields and wanted to learn how to use a computer. By nature, she was distinguished by her liveliness of mind and curiosity.

Scientists' opinion

In such a complex and interesting question longevity, one cannot fail to mention the opinions and research results of some scientists. So:

Anatomy professor Leonard Hayflick discovered a connection between the duration human life and the ratio of brain mass to body mass. According to the Californian scientist, the onset of aging occurs when growth stops. By the way, many scientists adhere to this pattern, as a result of which professors of medical fields recommend, a drug that provides beneficial influence on brain activity.
Scientists from medical center in Kyoto they are convinced that the hereditary factor has a huge influence on life expectancy.

As you can see, the secret of longevity still remains undiscovered, and, probably, each centenarian has his own. However, there is still one thing in common between all centenarians - optimism and love of life, which once again proves: by enjoying life, you can live up to 100 years!

There is such a wonderful phrase: “All people want to go to heaven, but are afraid to die.” That's why they dream of living long. And on Earth there are many cases where people lived to a very old age. Their life and secrets of longevity have always aroused the interest of society. Who are these long-livers? And how many years did the oldest man in the world live?

Would you like to know

About the old centenarian?

The oldest man in the world. Confirmed and unconfirmed facts about centenarians

Nowadays no one takes anyone’s word for it, so all any established achievements are recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

The first release of the Book took place on August 27, 1955, and since then the publication of a record in it has been officially registered.

But what then about the records that were set before the birth of the Book?

But no way. All that remains is to put the clause “according to eyewitnesses.”

So, “according to eyewitnesses,” the oldest person on Earth, Methuselah, lived 969 years.

If you read the Bible, you will find a description that in those distant times people often lived to be 800 years old.
Gradually, the threshold for longevity decreased, and today everyone who has crossed the 100-year mark is considered to be a centenarian.

By the way, there are not so few of them.

Again, “according to eyewitnesses,” the oldest person in the world is Li Qingyun, who was born in China and lived 256 years.
The same unconfirmed long-liver is the Azerbaijani shepherd Shirali Muslimov, who lived 168 years.
Another unofficial centenarian is a resident of Georgia, Antisa Khvichava, who died at the age of 132.
The oldest centenarian in Russia is considered to be Dagestani Magomed Labazanov, who died at the age of 123. They repeatedly wanted to register it in the Guinness Book of Records, but there was not enough time.
Currently, the oldest resident of Russia, according to official data from the Russian Book of Records, is Tanzilya Bisembeeva, who still lives in Astrakhan region and reached 120 years of age. Her record is unofficial, as it has not yet been registered in the Guinness Book of Records.
The leader among the world's documented centenarians is the French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived 122 years, 5 months and 14 days.
The official oldest person in the world is Emma Morano, who celebrated her 117th birthday on November 29, 2016.

How old is the oldest person in the world? Brief information about Emma Morano

Emma Morano lives in the small town of Verbania, located on the shores of Lake Lago Maggiore near the border of Italy and Switzerland.

She is believed to be the only living person born in the 19th century. Thus, she is a resident of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Emma survived three kings, eleven Popes and two world wars.

The centenarian was born into a large family.

She was the eldest of eight children - five sisters and three brothers. All my life I worked at a jute factory, then as a cook.
She was forcibly married to an unloved neighbor after her fiancé went missing during the First World War. According to her, the marriage did not last long - only two years, but actually lasted 13 years. Emma finally divorced her husband after the death of her only child, who died at the age of six months. The marriage was not happy - her husband often beat her.

Emma named the diet she has been following for almost 100 years as the secret to her longevity. At the age of 20, a doctor diagnosed her with anemia and advised her to eat three soft-boiled eggs, some meat, as well as fruits and vegetables.

Now the centenarian eats two raw eggs, one soft-boiled egg, a little finely chopped raw meat and a couple of cookies.

I eat little because I have no teeth

, she jokes.

Morano never smoked and drank alcohol very rarely. Despite her advanced age and problems with hearing and vision, she is of sound mind and strong memory. And even receives guests from different cities and countries.

The secrets of longevity have been of interest to people for a long time. This question periodically makes many people think about how to achieve ideal health, harmony with oneself and become a long-liver. Most often, when asking such questions, people return to the food system or spirituality, to traditions coming from antiquity or genetic history family. Average duration life in the CIS countries is 60–65 years, the life expectancy rate in the countries is slightly higher Western Europe. But there are people who have revealed their secrets to longevity. In history, centenarians are people who have reached their 90th birthday. Li Ching-Yun (or Li Jing-Yun) is rightfully considered the oldest man in the world among men.

Elder from China

The birth data of Li Ching-Yun states that he was born in 1677, although the old man himself says that he was born in 1736. In 1930, a professor at Chengdu University discovered Imperial Government Records from 1827, which mentioned his 150th anniversary from the authorities. The Chinese leadership did not ignore the centenarian further, congratulating him, but on his 200th birthday.

An old man was born in Sichuan province. When he was ten years old, Lee began collecting, processing and distributing herbs that were considered medicinal. Even then, he began to study and study everything that helps achieve long life and health. The elder’s diet was not varied: Lee ate herbal decoctions, wine and boiled rice. At the age of 71, Li moved to Cai City in 1749. Offering his job, he became a tactical adviser and art history teacher.

In the obituaries of the New York Times for 1933, it was announced that a long-liver of world significance, Lee Ching-Yun, had died at the age of 256. By that time, the long-liver had become a widower no less than 23 times. His heirs numbered about 180 people. Did he live for 256 years or, as Lee himself claimed, for 197 years? How old the oldest person in the world was was not actually known exactly, but it is much longer than the longevity record of French native Jeanne Calment.

The oldest French woman

Jeanne Calment was born in Arles in 1875. The record holder grew up in a fairly wealthy family of a ship owner. When Zhanna turned 21, she married one of her distant relatives. She had a daughter, but, unfortunately, over time, Zhanna had to bury almost all of her relatives.

During her long life, she almost never refused to eat tasty food or good wine. She loved vegetables and garlic. The only thing the Frenchwoman tried to avoid was conflicts and quarrels. Kalman always boasted about her health, having a bad habit of smoking, and she smoked until she was 117 years old, remaining in excellent health. physical fitness. Having mastered fencing at the age of 85, and practicing cycling until the age of 100, she was active and vigorous until the age of 114. When she reached her 114th birthday, disaster struck - the active centenarian fell and broke her hip. This made her life much more difficult, but still did not prevent her from living to 122 years old. Zhanna Kalman August 4, 1997.

Another long-lived woman

Leading the list of the oldest women alive today, Misao Okawa sadly passed away in April 2015. And while the Guinness Book of Records has not recorded a new record holder among women, it is Misao who is in first place.

She was born in Osaka on March 5, 1898. She got married in 1919, during her marriage she had three children, from whom four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren were born. Misao never refused to eat delicious food, and she never suffered from any special health problems. She considered sleep to be her secret to health and longevity: a good, healthy 15 hours of sleep.

Modern centenarian

As for the long-livers who are still living today, they include a resident of Bolivia (the central part of South America) Flores Laura. Flores deservedly takes this place of honor. Based on the official document, the Bolivian was born on July 16, 1890.

Flores achieved a long life with the help of nutrition: he spends a lot of time on the move and eats exclusively what he grows with his own hands - these are grains, potatoes and legumes. He eats only lamb as meat, and drinks water exclusively from high-mountain springs. Alcoholic drinks he never tried it and never used it. Perhaps this is why serious illnesses are unfamiliar to him. The 125-year-old man speaks only Spanish and still cannot read or write. Hearing often disappears, but his vision is still good. He has three children, from whom there are sixteen grandchildren and thirty-nine great-grandchildren. Laura still walks without a cane.

As history shows, every centenarian still has his own version of what leads a person to health and long life. Some people think it's a dream, some people say it's proper nutrition, and someone - about . Each of these assumptions has given humanity people whose long life went beyond any rule of existence.

For centuries, humanity has tried to solve the mystery of longevity. After all, according to the Bible, before the Flood people lived up to 900 years. And Methuselah lived to be 969 years old.

However, scientists still do not know why this or that person becomes a supercentenarian. Some of these lucky people drink, smoke and indulge in “various bad excesses” all their lives, while others adhere to a strict diet and lead correct image life. We don't know the answer to this question either. But we know how old the oldest person in the world is.

Oldest living person

The oldest person on Earth now is a resident of Japan, Nabi Tajima. She was born on August 4, 1900 and is soon to celebrate her 118th birthday. Nabi is the last living person born in the 19th century.

At the time of her 117th birthday, she had 9 children (7 sons and 2 daughters), 28 grandchildren, 58 great-grandchildren, 64 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-great-great-grandchildren.

And the oldest male person in the world is Japanese Masazo Nonaka. He was born on July 25, 1905 and is due to celebrate his 113th birthday in 2018. In general, there are a lot of Japanese on the list of supercentenarians. Perhaps a diet rich in fish.

Oldest man who ever lived

On August 4, 1997, Jeanne Calment died in a nursing home in France. Of course, the Grim Reaper will come for us all, but he was in no hurry to get to Mrs. Kalman. She died at the age of 122 years and 164 days, setting the official record for human longevity.

Before her, the title of “oldest person on the planet,” according to the Guinness Book of Records, was held by the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi, who was born on June 29, 1865 and died on February 21, 1986, at the age of 120 years and 237 days. It is interesting that both Kalman and Izumi did not deny themselves either drinking or smoking.

And unofficially, the oldest person on Earth was the Chinese Li Qingyun, presumably (since there are no documents confirming this) born in 1736 and died in 1933. Some sources even cite 1677 as the date of Qingyun’s birth. That is, at the time of his death he was 256 years old.

For most of his life this man was collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains of Sichuan, and understanding the secrets of longevity. When asked about the secret of his fantastically long life, Lee replied: “keep your heart still, sit like a turtle, walk like a dove and sleep like a dog.” He also practiced qigong gymnastics and drank a herbal infusion, the recipe for which is lost.

List of the oldest inhabitants of the planet

This is what ten verified long-livers of the Earth look like, both those who are living and those who have already left this world.

Jeanne Kalman lived 122 years.
Sarah Knauss lived to be 119 years old.
Lucy Hannah lived to be 117 years old.
Nabi Tajima - 117 years old, alive.
Maria Louise Meyer lived to be 117 years old.
Violet Brown lived to be 117 years old.
Emma Morano lived to be 117 years old.
Misao Okawa lived to be 117 years old.
Maria Esther de Capovilla lived to be 116 years old.
Chiyo Miyako - 116 years old, alive.

There is not a single man in the top 10 centenarians, because the oldest verified centenarian (Jiroemon Kimura) lived 116 years and 54 days. And Chiyo Miyako’s age is 116 years and 336 days.

How long can a person theoretically live?

According to the Bible, a person can theoretically live to the Methuselah Age - 969 years. According to Li Qingyun, you can live over 250 years.

But an expert on aging in New York Medical College Albert Einstein Jan Vij doubts that we will see centenarians like Jeanne Calment again. Human life expectancy has increased over the past few decades. But now, Vij believes, we have reached the upper limit of human longevity and people will not cross the 115-year mark.

Scientists analyzed how many people of different ages were alive in a particular year. They then compared the numbers from year to year to calculate how quickly the population grew in each age range. The fastest growing segment of society has become the elderly. For example, in France in the 1920s, the fastest growing group was 85-year-old women. And by the 1990s, the fastest growing group of French women had already reached 102 years of age. If this trend were to continue, the fastest-growing group today could well be 110-year-olds. Instead, growth has slowed and appears to have stalled.

Dr. Vij and his students looked at data from 40 countries and found the same general trend. Scientists believed the reason was that humans had finally reached the upper limit of their longevity.

With rare exceptions, such as Mrs. Kalman, people do not live to be 115 years old. This “wall” is also obvious to the longest living people on Earth. “When you look at the second supercentenarian, and then the third, fourth and fifth, the trend is always the same,” Dr. Vij said. On the researchers' chart, Mrs. Kalman is an anomaly. Vij's team calculated how likely it was that someone would survive it, given current trends. Verdict: practically no one.

Video: Indonesian Mba Goto claims to be 145 years old

Mba Goto died in April 2017 after long illness at the age of 146 years.

Every person wants to live as long as possible, so he looks with admiration at centenarians who have seen a lot in their lifetime. As a rule, if among our friends and acquaintances there are relatives who have reached the age of 95, they become an object of pride and close attention. At the same time, there are people in the world whose lives will surely be the envy of many. Today's rating is dedicated to the centenarians of our planet, who have lived more than 110 years. Many of them throughout their lives have not had bad habits, some smoked almost all their lives, or did not deny themselves alcohol. In any case, each of the centenarians presented below knew his own secret of longevity.

Christian Mortensen115 years 252 days (1882-1998)

Mortensen recognized oldest man– a long-liver, officially registered. The record holder, born on August 16, 1882, lived in Denmark for the first 11 years of his life, then moved to the USA. The centenarian was married for only 10 years, and considered the secret of longevity to be “Great cigars, friends, giving up alcohol, singing and drinking quality water in large quantities" Christian Mortensen passed away on April 25, 1998.

Maggie Pauline Barnes115 years 319 days (1882-1998)

Maggie became the only long-livers born into slavery (03/06/1882). Little is known about her life, but Barnes outlived 11 of her 15 children. The long-liver passed away on January 19, 1998.

Bessie Cooper 116 years 102 days (1896–2012)

The American was born on August 26, 1896, and was a teacher almost all her life. After she was widowed (Bessie was 68 years old at the time), she went to live on a farm, where she lived until she was 105 years old, after which she moved to a nursing home. Like all centenarians, Cooper had her own secret to longevity: “I don’t use harmful products, and I’m not interested in other people’s secrets.” Bessie Cooper died on December 4, 2012.

Elizabeth Bolden 116 years 118 days (1890–2006)

Elizabeth was born on August 15, 1890 in the American state. Tennessee in a family of freed slaves. It is noteworthy that by the time of her death on December 11, 2006, she had more than 500 descendants and 75 great-great-grandchildren. By this time, of her 7 children, only 2 were alive.

Tane Ikai 116 years 175 days (1879-1995)

The Japanese woman was recognized as the oldest representative of Asia. Tane was born on January 18, 1879, in the Japanese city of Kansei. Ikai's favorite pastimes were stucco and embroidery. The Japanese woman considered traditional Japanese nutrition, the basis of which is an abundance of seafood, to be one of the secrets of longevity. Also, Tane Ikai is the only one of all centenarians who underwent a post-mortem autopsy (which showed that the cause of death of the Japanese woman was kidney failure). Ikai outlived all 4 of her children; the record holder died on June 12, 1995.

Maria Capovilla 116 l. 347 days (1889–2006)

The centenarian was born on September 14, 1889 in Ecuador, and subsequently became the oldest representative of South America. Maria was born into a wealthy military family. At the age of 99, Capovilla suddenly fell ill, and even the doctors did not expect her to recover. However, the centenarian overcame the disease, and after recovering she was able to walk on her own. All her life the woman was active and had no bad habits. By the time of his death on August 27, 2006, Capovilla’s 3 children were over 80 years old.

Mailer Maria Louise117 years 230 days (1880–1998)

The record holder's birthplace was Quebec, Canada (08/29/1880); at the age of 30 she moved to Ontario. Mailer argued that longevity is the result permanent job, which provided her with two marriages, as well as ten children. The long-liver did not hide the fact that she drank wine from time to time, and said goodbye to smoking at the age of 90! Maria Louise died on April 16, 1998.

Lucy Hannah 117 years 248 days (1875 -1993)

In addition to the fact that Hannah ranks third in the ranking of the oldest people on earth, she is also the oldest African-American woman. Born on July 16, 1875 in the American state. Alabama, Hannah became the mother of 8 children.

Sarah Knauss 119 years 97 days (1880-1999)

A native of America (09/24/1880), the centenarian became an eyewitness to 7 American wars, Great Depression, 2nd World War. Her daughters described her as incredible calm person– nothing could piss Sarah off. When Knauss was told that she was America's old woman, she asked, "So what?" The centenarian died on December 30, 1999.

Zhanna Kalman 122 years and 164 days (1875–1997)

Born on February 21, 1875, she was a contemporary of the creation of the engine internal combustion, the first flight of the Wright brothers, and many other significant events in human history. Zhanna regularly practiced cycling and smoked until she was a hundred years old. She believed that the secret to longevity was extremely simple: “When problems cannot be solved, there is no need to worry.” Kalman passed away on August 4, 1997.

Note that all the people included in our rating had official confirmation of their age. We deliberately did not include people such as Shigechiyo Izumi, whose age, according to some estimates, is 120 years old, or Shirali Muslimov, an Azerbaijani shepherd who reached 168 years of age, because official documents There are no documents confirming their age.