The longest-living person on planet earth. Who is the oldest person on Earth

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An Indonesian man who claimed to be 146 years old has died in his village in Central Java.

According to his documents, Sodimejo, also known as Mba Ghoto (grandfather of Ghoto), was born in December 1870.

However, in Indonesia, official registration of newborns began only in 1900, and errors with the year of birth are not uncommon. But local authorities told the BBC that Ghoto's grandfather's documents were genuine.

Due to deteriorating health, he was hospitalized on April 12. Six days later he insisted on being discharged and returned home.

"After he came back from hospital, he could only eat a couple of spoons of porridge and drink some water," his grandson Suyanto told the BBC.

“He lasted like this for a couple of days, then until his death he completely refused food and water,” said the grandson

Patience and love

When the BBC met Ghoto's grandfather last year and asked about his secret to longevity, he said the most important thing was patience.

"I have lived long life, because I was courted by people who love me,” he added.

Mba Ghoto was a heavy smoker until his death. He survived four wives, 10 brothers and sisters, and all of his children.

In his village, grandfather Ghoto was a hero, famous for his stories about the war with the Japanese and Dutch colonialists.

Illustration copyright Fajar Sodiq

Grandson Suyanto said that his grandfather was buried on Monday at the local cemetery - on a plot that he himself bought several years ago.

A tombstone was placed on the grave, which stood next to Mba Ghoto’s house for several years.

"He didn't ask for anything. Before he died, he just wanted us, his family, to let him go in peace," his grandson said.

According to an independent examination, Ghoto's grandfather was older than the French woman Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.

He was considered the oldest person in the world in recorded history.

Classification World Organization Health defines centenarians as people who have crossed the 90-year mark. Compared to the total population of the Earth, those who managed to live to be 100 years old account for only a small fraction.

Gerontologists argue that by nature, that is, for the human body, 100 years is not the limit. And this means a full and active life.

The Guinness Book of Records lists the life expectancy of Jeanne-Louise Calment from France as 122 years. She was born on February 21, 1875, and died in 1997, outliving not only her children, but also her grandchildren. Madame Kalman is known to science, information about her is documented.

Of the male representatives, Shigechiyo Izumi, a resident of Japan who was born on June 29, 1865, and died on February 21, 1986, lived two years less than her. His name appears in the 1871 census. However, there is debate about his life expectancy, since documents clearly confirming it apparently have not survived. The second after the Japanese is considered to be a resident of Denmark, Christian Mortensen, who was born on August 16, 1882, and died on April 25, 1998, although the documents about his birth do not raise any doubts.

Which person lived the longest?

In Vietnam, during the 1991 census, a man was found to be 142 years old. A woman born in 1847 was also found in Vietnam; her children were over 100 years old.

The life expectancy of Javier Pereira from Colombia is 169 years. When he turned 146 years old, a commemorative postage stamp with his image was issued.

A postage stamp was also issued in honor of the centenarian Soviet Union Muhammad Eyvazov, at that time he was 148 years old. He died in 1959, having lived three more years.

A reporter from Cairo wrote about a man who clearly remembered the opening of the Suez Canal to ships on November 17, 1869. At the time of the story, according to this man, he was 195 years old.

In 1964, a resident of Turkey, Hancer Nine, died, who lived for 169 years.

Antisa Khvichava from Georgia was born on July 8, 1880, and died on September 30, 2012, at the age of 133.

The official US record holder is Sarah Knauss, born September 24, 1880, and died December 30, 1999.

The oldest inhabitant of the planet is Li Ching-Yun from China, who was born in 1677 and died at the age of 256 in 1933. Li's birth data cannot be verified, but in 1930, records were found congratulating the Imperial Government of China on his 150th birthday. 200th anniversary. Whether this is so, no one can say now. In any case, Lee Ching-Yun died at a very old age, having lived a long life.

Oddly enough, but rare centenarians died of old age. The cause of death was almost always diseases - infectious, cardiovascular, oncological. By the way, among 100-year-old centenarians there are often big fans of alcohol, cigarettes and coffee.

Their names are included in the Guinness Book of Records, their national glory spreads far beyond home country. This is because these people are long-lived people who have long since crossed the 100-year mark.

Jeanne Kalman and the Guinness Book of Records

The longest living officially recognized the person was a native of France, Jeanne Calment. She was 122 years old at the time of her death on August 4, 1997. Born on February 21, 1875, she survived two world wars and also saw Vincent Van Gogh with her own eyes. Her age is officially confirmed and recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living person on earth.

The Frenchwoman didn't drive healthy image life, loved sweets and wine, and also smoked a couple of cigarettes a day. However, her favorite means of transportation was a bicycle. The old woman explained her secret to longevity by her good sense of humor and lack of stress. I didn’t work, I led an active lifestyle, I loved fresh fruit, spent a lot of time outdoors.

At 90, Jeanne Calment made a deal with lawyer Raffrey. According to this deal, the lawyer paid the old woman 2,500 francs every month, and in return, after her death, he was supposed to receive her house, because the Frenchwoman outlived all her heirs. But Raffre died at the age of 77, and his widow paid the old woman money for another 2 years. In total, the house cost the Raffre family at least 2 times more, but there were no hard feelings; everyone treated the old woman with great respect.

Officially confirmed The longest living countries can be called the USA. 45 US natives are in the top 100 long-lived people peace. In second place is Japan, where 25 people officially confirmed their age. Next comes France, Great Britain and Italy.

The terrain also affects life expectancy, so it has been noted that in mountainous areas the percentage of centenarians is higher. The Hunza tribe located in India is of great interest. In this tribe, according to local residents, almost everyone lives to be 110 summer age and higher, but this is not documented. Some attribute this to a diet consisting mainly of fresh fruits and vegetables and virtually complete absence meat.

There are many more undocumented cases. Wars and disasters destroy documents, making it simply impossible to confirm the age of some people.

Officially the oldest person of the living recognized Japanese Nabi Tajima, who was born on August 4, 1900 and today she is 117 years 112 days old.

The list of the world's centenarians can be found on Wikipedia. As you can see There are many more long-lived women, out of the 100 most oldest people in the world, only 6! men, all others women.

If we consider not official Statistics are of interest to the Hindu Mahashta Murasi, who today should be 181 years old. He was born in 1835 and lives in the Indian city of the dead - Varanasi. However, no documents confirming his age were found. Mahashta himself says that he outlived many of his relatives.

There are many more officially unconfirmed cases of longevity. So, according to José Aginelo dos Santos, he was born on July 7, 1888 in Brazil in the city of Pedra Branca. His father was a slave, but he was already born a free man. To this day, he remains sober and often jokes about his age.

The most incredible incident long life attributed to Li Qingyun, who is said to have lived for 256 years. A native of China, he was born in Qijiangxiang, Sichuan Province in 1677 and died in 1933. He spent most of his life in the mountains, where he studied and collected herbs. Then he traveled around China, staying for a long time in Tibet. Li practiced Qigong breathing techniques, which were given to him by a 500-year-old hermit living in the mountains. Lee had 124 wives and 180 children. To this day, it is not known for sure whether the Chinese herbalist lived for so long, but there are quite a few documents confirming this, so in 1930 documents were found with official congratulations for 1827 on the 150th anniversary and for 1877 on the 200th anniversary.

In 1928, a journalist from the New York Times came to the place where Lee lived and interviewed local residents. They confirmed that the old man does not change in appearance. He was two meters tall with a ruddy complexion. He always remained a cheerful, unchanged old man who was still friends with their ancestors, who had long since died. When asked about the secret of long life, Lee said:

“Keep your heart still, sit like a turtle, walk like a dove, and sleep like a dog.”

Dear readers, today on the blog I want to talk about the phenomenon of longevity. Gerontologists and other specialists involved in studying the capabilities of the human body claim that we live a criminally short time.

The human body is programmed from birth for 100-120 years of not just existence, but active existence. That is, we live on average 30-40% less than the time allotted by nature. Why? There are many reasons, but now we will talk about them only indirectly. Using the example of unique long-lived people, we will look at what gives people the strength to go through life for so long, and often fruitfully.

Who should be considered long-livers?

Remember the old movie “The Makropoulos Remedy” based on the play by Karel Capek? The author posed a philosophical question: is immortality such a good for us, to which people sometimes carelessly strive? Well, maybe not immortality, but living for a very long time is also sometimes a heavy burden. “Old age is no joy,” people of retirement age sometimes sigh.

From the point of view of the “champions” of longevity, the world’s centenarians from the Guinness Book of Records, they are very young, but tired of life. However, there are plenty of such “old men” even among 30-year-olds. Therefore, we will talk here, first of all, not about many years to come in general, but about how individual people manage to accomplish the almost impossible: to remain at 100 years old and at a more advanced age in a clear mind and in physical health.

To begin with, it’s worth deciding who is considered long-livers?

It is generally accepted to include people over 90 years of age in this category. This figure is enshrined in the WHO classification.

I must say, there are many such people in the world. Even in our country, traditionally criticized for its low life expectancy, about 350 people have exceeded this age limit. And every year the number of “elders” continues to grow.

The second essential point: does a person have official documents, confirming his date of birth. This is more difficult, after all, the world over the last century has experienced two global wars and many other cataclysms, and purely family problems sometimes lead to the loss of such papers. Therefore, there are so-called verified long-livers of the world and unofficial, speculative ones. The latter have to provide some indirect evidence of their records.

An indisputable fact: there are many more long-lived women than men. This also still baffles scientists. Although in general the life expectancy of the “stronger” sex is almost universally shorter than that of their fair halves. There are quite objective reasons for this. The main thing is the one on the surface: they more diligently shorten their lives bad habits and sometimes excessive workload.

Phenomenon of the place: Japan, villages in Italy and a tribe in India

The question of how this phenomenon relates to the locality is also interesting. Why do people live much longer in some countries and certain regions than in others? Ecology, the level of medicine and social benefits, food traditions - researchers take these and many other factors into account. But these statistics do not provide accurate and comprehensive answers. The mystery still remains.

It is well known that many people of very advanced age live in mountainous regions of the planet (but not too high, where the air is already very thin). Georgia, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia and other territories former USSR noted for this advantage, many of the longest-livers in the world also live in Japan.

In the Country Rising Sun more than 40 thousand citizens have passed the 100-year mark. The UN has predicted that by 2050, if trends continue, there will be a million centenarians in this country. This even raises concerns among those in power: the nation is aging, and the percentage of elderly Japanese in the total population is constantly increasing.

86% of age record holders are women, and Japan is no exception. If we look through the lists of official centenarians in the world, we will see many representatives of this country. Let's say Misao Okawa passed away last year, reaching the milestone of 117 years and 27 days. And now living Nabi Tajima was 116 years and 72 days old on October 16, 2016.

Scientists from Italy recently published research results about the phenomenon of the inhabitants of the village of Acciaroli. 300 people there are over 100 years old. Moreover, they work and live actively, enjoying all the joys of life, including sexual ones! You can read about this in Medical News. And here you can learn a lot of interesting things about how modern medicine can help everyone who seeks to extend their earthly journey.

But what scientists still cannot solve is the mystery of the Indian Hunza tribe. We will not find the names of its representatives in the rankings of the world's longest-livers in the book of records; probably, they simply have no time to deal with formalities. But, living for more than 110 years (all of them!), these natives have excellent vision, have excellent teeth without signs of caries, and generally enjoy enviable health.

The only secret that is visible to the naked eye is the dietary habits of the tribe members. They eat fruits and raw vegetables, meat is consumed only on major holidays. They prepare juices for future use and drink them in the most difficult times, when there is no time to new harvest or the weather, nature brings unpleasant surprises.

Another distinctive property of the Hunza is its constant physical activity, hardened by the habit of bathing in cold water. 60-year-old women of the tribe calmly give birth to healthy, strong babies and live, in the full sense of the word, happily ever after. By the way, this may be the most important factor in their resilience: impenetrable optimism!

Other record-breaking countries for the number of centenarians

The same rule is used by the world's longest-livers today who live in Abkhazia. There, the long life expectancy does not surprise anyone; almost 3% of the population have birth dates of the beginning of the last century in their passports. " Evil people“They don’t live long” - this is one of the common Abkhaz sayings.

More than 80 thousand people in the United States also belong to centenarians. Everything is different here: not brilliant environmental performance, high tempo existence with inevitable stress. But the country can boast quite high level life in general and medicine in particular.

The example of Cuba is even more impressive. Here, for a population of 11 million, there are 3,000 centenarians and those who have passed this age limit. Again, the secret is the close attention of the state to health issues.

Taiwan has long been considered another “hotbed of longevity.” In a small country there are more than 1,200 people aged 100 years and above. This, apparently, has to do with the Eastern traditions of nutrition and unhurried life, and a philosophical attitude towards the world.

Legends of the world: undocumented “champions”

There lived such a character in China: Lee Chung-yan. He passed away in 1933 and claimed that the year of his birth was 1680, that is, he lived 253 years. He did not hide the origins of his cheerfulness: physical activity, special breathing exercises and... oriental equanimity. “You need to keep your heart calm and sleep like it’s the last time,” he taught those around him.

What do they say about it historical facts? Archivists found documents where we're talking about about congratulations to a person named Lee Chung-yan Chinese Emperor. And the supreme ruler congratulated him on his glorious anniversaries of 150 and 200 years. Whether this is the same person or a complete namesake, a relative of a long-liver of the 20th century, remains a big question. But I really want to believe!

Other centenarians of the world called different terms: for example, the Hungarians Zoltan Petras and Petr Zortai claimed that they lived 186 and 185 years, respectively. Pakistani Mahammad Afzia - 180, as well as a number of representatives of other countries.

The Soviet Union even issued a postage stamp in honor of Mukhamed Eyvazov. He died in 1959 at the age of about 151.

Here is an instructive story from English antiquities experts. In 1935, King Charles invited the peasant Thomas Parr to London, who claimed that he was 152 years old and had outlived 9 kings. Karl did not skimp on the magnificent celebrations. But after a lavish feast, the unique guest died. It was officially announced that he suffered from pneumonia and was buried with honors in Westminster Abbey. But most scientists agree that the real reason The tragic ending was banal overeating at the royal table.

World record holders for longevity

If you look at the lists proposed by Wikipedia, they list the 100 most “long-lived” inhabitants of the planet, whose proven age at the time of death exceeded 114 years. The lists of the “younger” ones, 100 years and older, are much longer.

And here we again encounter mysteries and contradictions. If somewhere decent living conditions help you enjoy years, then how can you explain the phenomenon of Maggie Pauline Barnes, who lived 115 years 319 days (from 1882 to 1998). This is truly unique: she is the only representative of the world's centenarians who were born into slavery.

The mentioned lists and examples from the Guinness Book of Records also mention the names of American women Bessie Cooper, Elizabeth Bolden, Japanese woman Tane Ikai, representative of Ecuador Maria Capovilla and dozens of other “champions” who have crossed the line of 116-year life expectancy. And Sarah Knauss was over 119 years old at the time of her death (she is from the USA).

Japanese Tane Ikai said that her success is associated with her love for seafood, which is what she always preferred in her diet. But Canadian Maria Louise Mailer safely reached the age of 117 years and 230 days, but all her life she worked tirelessly, and in difficult conditions. Two husbands, 10 children. In addition, Maria did not refuse a glass or two of wine, and quit smoking on her 90th birthday.

There are few men in this glorious cohort. In the category of world centenarians, the Guinness Book of Records recorded the name of a Japanese man who lived just over 116 years. This is Jiroemon Kimura. Christian Mortensen, a Dane who emigrated to the United States, enjoyed life for 115 years and 252 days. Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado del Toro is also among the record holders with a total of 115 years 163 days. There are several “junior” champions.

Jeanne Calment: the fierce Frenchwoman

For many years, the list of the longest-living people in the world was headed by Jeanne-Louise Calment with a phenomenal result of 122 years and 164 days (1875–1997). Just imagine: she could see the first flight of the Wright brothers, survived two world wars and a bunch of other significant events in world history.

I suggest watching a video about her and the Top 10 centenarians of our planet.

It turns out that her recipe for success is constant physical activity. A bicycle, and not a recreational one, she was almost a pro in racing! And at the age of 85, she learned to fence decently. To last days She was alert and clear-minded, and had an excellent sense of humor. And a taste for good clothes!

Louise Kalman explained her record by her ability to follow simple rule: “When problems cannot be solved, there is no need to worry.”

By the way, the frantic Frenchwoman did not eat nectar and ambrosia at all. Do you know when she denied herself the pleasure of drinking a glass of port every day? At 117 years old! One unlucky notary decided to “bless” 92-year-old Jeanne-Louise by undertaking to pay her life annuity. She lived for another 30 years, long outliving the notary who never came to see her modest apartment.

Antisa Khvichava: an example of hard work

But who should be considered the officially recognized longest-living person in the world in all of history, at least modern history? This is Antisa Khvichava, an ordinary Georgian woman, just shy of 133 years old. She worked on tea plantations for 85 years.

There are documents confirming the authenticity of her birth in 1880. This was recognized by specialists from the Guinness Book of Records, who issued the corresponding certificate to the Georgian woman.

Antisa Khvichava was illiterate, so she did not undertake to tell the numerous guests anything about the origins of her uniqueness. But she was interested in the latest science and wanted to learn how to use a computer. Her liveliness of mind and natural curiosity remained with her until her last breath.

What do scientists know about the secret of longevity?

Let's try to sum up some results. Who are they, the long-livers of the world: self-made people or lucky ones, darlings of fate?

Of course, a lot is being done in terms of the overall development of healthcare and increasing the life expectancy of entire countries and peoples. Infant mortality rates are decreasing, and a lot has been done in terms of searching for new methods of treating oncology and diseases of the cardiovascular system. But they still claim the most human lives, adding their black edits to the statistics.

University of California anatomy professor Leonard Hayflick discovered an interesting pattern: human life expectancy and the ratio of brain weight to body weight are proportionally related. The more private it is, the longer life. According to him, aging begins when we stop growing. In fact, from about 30 years old, or even earlier. But sharks, Galapagos turtles and a number of other creatures age very slowly, since almost all their lives they grow slightly in size.

Paracelsus, meanwhile, was confident that a person could live 600 years. His Russian colleagues Ilya Mechnikov and Alexander Bogomolets gave us a term of 160 years.

We can say that the process is influenced by heredity, and this is partly true. Ecology, nutrition, healthy lifestyle - all these are influencing factors. But even from the above examples it is clear that “our” centenarians were not angelic creatures. Some drank, by the way, some, even quite decently, others smoked or even smoked recklessly, and still others abused coffee.

The Irish landowner Brown, who is believed to have lived to be 120 years old, bequeathed a tombstone inscription for himself. Here is her text: “He was always drunk and so terrible in this state that death itself was afraid of him.”

Here are thoughts for all of us... But there is, after all, one thing in common that unites all the centenarians of the world - this is an inexhaustible love of life and optimism. They lived long because they sincerely loved life. And she reciprocated.

I wish us all health and the simple joys of life. We all have something to learn from long-livers: the same positivity, hard work and a calmer attitude towards stress.

One of the oldest women in Italy, Theresia Staffler, died on Monday evening in the mountain town of Santa Valpurga in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige at the age of 112. Staffler was far from the only famous centenarian whose age exceeded 100 years.

Duration human life depends on many reasons. This is both a genetic predisposition and environment, and a person’s mood, his desire to live. Only a small fraction of one percent of the total number of people on Earth survives to be a hundred years old.

According to gerontologists, life expectancy modern man 40% less than what is allotted to it by nature: 100-120 years of active and fulfilling life is not the limit for the human body.

According to the World Health Organization classification, long-livers include elderly people who have crossed the 90-year mark.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the limit for human life expectancy is 122 years. Jeanne Louise Calmat, a resident of France, born on February 21, 1875 in Arles, lived this long. Japanese resident Shigechio Izumi, who was born in 1865 and died of pneumonia in 1986, lived two years less.

But many scientists and journalists believe that the Guinness Book of Records does not have all the data on centenarians. Thus, a reporter from the Cairo newspaper Al-Akhbar talks about a man who, according to him, is 195 years old and perfectly remembers the opening of the Suez Canal.

The population census in Vietnam in 1991 also made its own adjustments to the question of centenarians. A man aged 142 was discovered in Cun Khol County, Nget Tinh Province. There, in Vietnam, they found a centenarian who was born in 1847, outlived her three husbands and has four children who are already over 100 years old.

According to unverified data, one of the oldest inhabitants of the planet was Chinese citizen Li-Chung-yang, who was born in 1680 and died in 1933 at the age of 253 years. However, these reports are not documented.

One of the oldest inhabitants of Colombia, Javier Pereira, lived to be 169 years old. A special postage stamp was issued in his honor. On the day Pereira turned 146 years old, government officials and senior officials came to congratulate him. They asked the hero of the day for his consent to issue a commemorative stamp with his image in his honor. Pereira agreed, but set a condition: at the bottom corner of the stamp it should be written: “I drink and I smoke.”

In the Soviet Union, a postage stamp was also issued in honor of the long-lived Mukhamed Eyvazov (he was 148 years old at the time). After this, Eyvazov lived for another three years. He died in August 1959.

An interesting case is described by English historians. In 1635, the peasant Thomas Parr came from the provinces to London to appear before King Charles as a miracle of longevity. Parr claimed that he had outlived nine kings and was 152 years old. In honor of the long-liver, the king threw a magnificent feast, after which Thomas Parr suddenly died. It was opened by the famous English doctor William Harvey, who discovered blood circulation. According to Harvey, Parr died of pneumonia, but, as legends say, the cause of his death was the rich treat at the king's table. Parr was buried with honors in Westminster Abbey.

Of the most famous centenarians The following can also be noted:

Zoltan Petridzh (Hungary) - 186 years old.

Peter Zortai (Hungary) - 185 years old (1539-1724).

Cantigern is the founder of Glasgow Abbey. Known as Saint Mungo. Lived 185 years.

Tense Abziva (Ossetia) - 180 years old.

Huddiye (Albania) - 170 years old. His offspring numbered 200.

Hancer Nine (Türkiye). Lived 169 years. Died in 1964.

Sayyad Abdul Mabud (Pakistan) - 159 years old.

IN developed countries There is a constant struggle in the world for the survival and improvement of the nation, for increasing the life expectancy of each person. Increasing life expectancy in all countries of the world is achieved by reducing child mortality and reducing mortality from cancer and heart diseases. Thus, by defeating diseases, humanity strives to get closer to achieving the upper limit of human life.

Leonard Hayflick, professor of anatomy at the University of California, based on his human survival charts for individual countries and different periods obtained a theoretical curve with an upper limit of 115 years. At the same time, Hayflick discovered another interesting pattern: it turns out that a person’s life expectancy is proportionally related to the ratio of brain weight to body weight. The greater this ratio, the longer life, and this has changed quite dramatically at certain periods during evolution. Last time its strong increase occurred 100 thousand years ago, after which it practically did not change, just as the ratio of brain weight to body weight did not change.

Leonard Hayflick also expressed an original point of view on the aging of the body. According to him, aging occurs after growth ceases, and those creatures whose growth does not stop over time (shark, sturgeon, galapagos tortoise), age very, very slowly.

About the upper limit of human life various world scientists they say differently. The famous medieval physician Paracelsus believed that a person could live 600 years. Albrecht von Haller and Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland (scientists of the 18th century) considered the age of 200 years to be the limit of human life. Russian scientists Ilya Mechnikov and Alexander Bogomolets spoke about 160 years.

As paradoxical as it may sound, rarely do any long-livers die a natural death directly from old age. Almost always the cause of death is various diseases - cardiovascular, oncological, infectious.

In his “Etudes of Optimism,” Mechnikov pointed out that “in 1902 in Paris, out of 1000 deaths between 70 and 74 years, only 85 people died of old age. Most old people died from contagious diseases: pneumonia and consumption, from heart disease, kidney disease or cerebral hemorrhage." Even the famous long-livers, the Englishman Thomas Parr (152 years old) and the Turk Zara Aga (156 years old), died not from age, but from disease (the first from pneumonia, the second from uremic coma caused by prostate disease).

Among centenarians, drunkards are often found. The surgeon Politiman died at 140 years old (1685-1825); From the age of 25, he used to get drunk every day after finishing his studies. Gascony, a butcher in Trieu (Pyrenees), who died in 1767 at the age of 120, got drunk twice a week. The example of one Irish landowner Brown, who lived to be 120 years old, is striking. He bequeathed a tombstone inscription to be made for him, stating that “he was always drunk and so terrible in this state that death itself was afraid of him.”

But some centenarians loved wine, others coffee. So, for example, the famous Voltaire loved coffee very much, and when one doctor began to tell him that coffee is poison, Voltaire replied: “It will be 80 years since I have been poisoned by this poison.” Coffee lover Elizabeth Durien lived to be 114 years old.

They say that smoking shortens life. However, many centenarians smoked. Ross, who received the Longevity Award at age 102 (1896), was a heavy smoker.

Scientists have always been interested in the so-called “foci of longevity,” isolated areas where people live much longer than in other places and retain vitality and energy until the end of their lives. One such region is Abkhazia, where almost 3% of the population are centenarians, over 100 years old.

In 2000, there were an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people in the United States aged 100 years or older. Centenarians represent one of the fastest growing age groups in the US population.

The average life expectancy in Cuba, a neighbor of the United States, is one of the highest in the world: 76 years. At the same time, for the country's 11 million population, there are about 3 thousand people who have crossed the century mark.

Taiwan boasts the number of its centenarians over 100 years of age. According to the Xinhua Agency as of October 2009, there are 1,223 of them in the state. Among the elderly people, 853 are women and 370 are men. The oldest of them are a 116-year-old resident of Kaohsiung City and a 113-year-old resident of Lianhua County, Taipei City.

In November 2009, peasant Halima Solmaz, the oldest woman on the planet who lives in eastern Turkey in the highland province of Diyarbakir, turned 125 years old. In confirmation of this, a representative of the provincial census bureau showed the identity card of the ecumenical hero of the day, which recorded the date of birth of grandmother Halime - 1884.

On January 11, 2010, at the age of 112, one of the oldest women in Italy, Theresia Staffler, died in the mountain town of Santa Valpurga in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige.

Staffler, who was born in 1898, managed to live in the 19th, 20th and XXI centuries. She ranked 45th on the world list of centenarians.

Teresia will be buried by her two daughters, who are 88 and 85 years old, as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources