Supercentenarian

A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated super-centenarian) is someone who has reached the age of 110 years or more, something achieved by only one in a thousand centenarians (0.1%, based on European data). In turn, only about one supercentenarian in fifteen lives to turn 114.

The term has been around at least since the 1970s (as one citation, Norris McWhirter, editor of Guinness, used the word in correspondence with age claims researcher A. Ross Eckler, Jr. in 1976), and was further popularized in 1991 by William Strauss and Neil Howe, in their book entitled Generations. Early references tend to mean simply "someone well over 100" but the 110-and-over cutoff is the accepted criterion of demographers.

File:AnnPouderSupercentenarian.jpg

Supercentenarian Ann Pouder (8 April 1807 – 10 July 1917) photographed on her 110th birthday

History

While claims of extreme age have persisted from the earliest times in history, the earliest supercentenarian who has substantial scholarly acceptance is Geert Adriaans Boomgaard, who was born in Groningen, Netherlands, September 21, 1788, and died there February 3, 1899.

About eight hundred supercentenarians have been documented in history, and this is doubtless a fraction of the number who have really lived, but the majority of claims to this age one finds recorded do not have sufficient documentary support to be regarded as validated. This is slowly changing as those born after birth registration was standardized in more countries and parts of countries attain supercentenarian age.

The longest documented lifespan is the 122 years 164 days of Jeanne Calment (1875–1997). While her stories of meeting Vincent Van Gogh or attending the 1885 funeral of Victor Hugo might have been embroidered, her life was documented in the records of her native city of Arles, France, beyond reasonable question.

The Guinness Book of World Records in 1978 accepted the claim that Shigechiyo Izumi was born June 29, 1865, and from the 1980 edition considered him the oldest person. He died February 21, 1986 (the 111th birthday of Jeanne Calment). However, there is still doubt as to whether he was wrongly conflated with a brother who died young.

Maria Olivia da Silva of Brazil claims to be 125 years old(see this link). The Guinness Book has not verified this claim. If she is found to be 125 years old (a longshot), she would be the current oldest person in the world and have the longest lifespan in history. However, this is not the first time RankBrasil has produced an "oldest person ever" claim, only to not produce the documents.

For supercentenarians known for anything other than their extreme age, see centenarians.

Oldest living people

Official oldest living person

The following is a list of the oldest recognized people in the world since 1991 and the period for which they were the titleholder:

From	To	Name	Age at death	Lived	Town, Country
February 1991	August 1997	Jeanne Calment	122	February 211875–August 41997	Arles, France
August 1997	April 1998	Marie-Louise Meilleur	117	August 291880–April 161998	Corbeil, Ontario, Canada
April 1998	December 1999	Sarah Knauss	119	September 241880–December 301999	Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
December 1999	November 2000	Eva Morris	114	November 81885–November 22000	Stone, Staffordshire, England
November 2000	June 2001	Marie Brémont	115	April 251886–June 62001	Cande, Maine-et-Loire, France
June 2001	March 2002	Maude Farris-Luse	115	January 211887–March 182002	Coldwater, Michigan, USA
March 2002	October 2003	Kamato Hongo	116	September 161887–October 312003	Kagoshima, Japan
October 2003	November 2003	Mitoyo Kawate	114	May 151889–November 132003	Hiroshima, Japan
November 2003	May 2004	Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan	114	August 311889–May 292004	Utuado, Puerto Rico
May 2004	-	Hendrikje van Andel		June 291890–	Hoogeveen, Netherlands

Oldest recognized living man

Name	Born	Died	Notes
Shigechiyo Izumi	29 June 1865 (?)	21 February 1986	Oldest man recognized by Guinness Book of World Records
Joe Thomas	1 May 1875	14 December 1986	American from Louisiana
Herman Smith-Johannsen	15 June 1875	5 January 1987	Cross-country skier
Alphaeus Philemon Cole	12 July 1876	25 November 1988	Engraver
John Evans	19 August 1877	10 June 1990	British male recordholder
Henri Perignon	14 October 1879	18 June 1990	France
James W. Wiggins	15 October 1879	16 October 1991	USA
Frederick L. Frazier	27 January 1880	14 June 1993	USA
Christian Mortensen	16 August 1882	25 April 1998	Danish immigrant to USA, oldest man widely accepted by scholars
Johnson Parks	15 October 1884	17 July 1998	Black American, lived in Florida
Walter Richardson	7 November 1885	25 December 1998	Illinois
Denzo Ishisaki	20 October 1886	29 April 1999	Only man in post-Izumi years to be oldest person in Japan
John Painter	20 September 1888	1 March 2001	Oldest record available (1900 census) supports the Sept. 1888 birthdate but other records disagree
Antonio Todde	22 January 1889	3 January 2002	Sardinian
Yukichi Chuganji	23 March 1889	28 September 2003	Oldest recognized man in world January 2002–September 2003, in Ogori
Joan Riudavets	15 December 1889	5 March 2004	Oldest person in history of Spain, was oldest recognized European, world's oldest recognized man 2003–4; he rode a bicycle to age 110, on Minorca
Fred H. Hale, Sr.	1 December 1890	19 November 2004	Born in Maine, oldest man in world March–November 2004, died in Jamesville, New York
Emiliano Mercado del Toro	21 August 1891	-	From Puerto Rico, accepted by Guinness as "oldest living man" on 17 January 2005 (retroactively would be "oldest living man" since 19 November 2004).

Among the oldest ever

Name	Age	Born	Died	Notes
Jeanne Calment	122	21 February 1875	4 August 1997	Oldest documented supercentenarian
Sarah Knauss	119	24 September 1880	30 December 1999	Oldest in United States history, oldest recognized in world 1998–99
Lucy Hannah	117	16 July 1875	21 March 1993	Oldest African American
Marie-Louise Meilleur	117	29 August 1880	16 April 1998	Oldest Canadian, oldest recognized in world 1997 – 98
Tane Ikai	116	18 January 1879	12 July 1995	Oldest Japanese woman
Christian Mortensen	115	16 August 1882	25 April 1998	Oldest undisputed male, Danish immigrant to US
Charlotte Marion Milburn Hughes	115	1 August 1877	17 March 1993	British longevity recordholder

Among the oldest living, 2005

Name	Born	Notes
Hendrikje van Andel	29 June 1890	Oldest person in history of the Netherlands, oldest recognized in world after death of Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan
Ura Koyama	30 August 1890	Oldest in Japan, presumed 2nd oldest in world on death of Emma Verona Johnston
Bettie Wilson	13 September 1890	Oldest verified living American, 3rd-oldest in world; recordholder for state of Mississippi, where she lives
Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes	24 October 1890	Oldest woman in history of Portugal, 4th-oldest in world
Susie Gibson	31 October 1890	Lives in Alabama; 5th-oldest in world; claims birth 1889, 1890 is based on census records
Grace Thaxton	18 June 1891	Oldest living person in Kentucky, 6th-oldest in world
Emiliano Mercado del Toro	21 August 1891	Oldest living man (since 19 November 2004), 7th-oldest in world
Julie Winnefred Bertrand	16 September 1891	Oldest living Canadian, 8th-oldest in world
Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi	24 December 1891	Oldest living Italian, 9th-oldest in world
M. Gladys Swetland	18 April 1892	Oldest living person in Pennsylvania

Notably early and long-lived among supercentenarians

Name	Born	Died	Notes
Delina Filkins	1815	1928	Herkimer County, New York
Betsy Russell Baker	1842	1955	British immigrant to Nebraska

National longevity recordholders

Main article: National longevity recordholders

By nation of death or current residence

Country	Age	Sex	Name	Born	Died
France	122	f	Jeanne Calment	21 February 1875	4 August 1997
US	119	f	Sarah Knauss	24 September 1880	30 December 1999
Canada	117	f	Marie-Louise Meilleur	29 August 1880	16 April 1998
Japan	116	f	Tane Ikai (assuming Izumi false)	18 January 1879	12 July 1995
UK	115	f	Charlotte Hughes	1 August 1877	17 March 1993
Romania	115	f	Anitica Batariu	17 June 1882	21 November 1997
Australia	114	f	Christina Cock	25 December 1887	22 May 2002
Spain	114	m	Joan Riudavets	15 December 1889	5 March 2004
Netherlands	114*	f	Hendrikje Van Andel	29 June 1890	-
Portugal	114*	f	Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes	24 October 1890	-
Italy	113	f	Maria Teresa Fumarola Ligorio	2 December 1889	14 May 2003
Germany	112	f	Maria Laqua (documents withheld)	12 February 1889	9 February 2002
Finland	112	f	Lempi Maria Rothovius	2 October 1887	17 June 2000
Belgium	112	f	Joanna DeRoover	3 June 1890	6 December 2002
Sweden	112	f	Elsa Moberg	30 June 1889	27 November 2001
Norway	112	f	Maren Bolette Torp	21 December 1876	20 February 1989

Emigrant records

Country	Age	Sex	Name	Born	Died	Notes
Denmark	115	m	Christian Mortensen	16 August 1882	25 April 1998	died U.S.
Cape Verde	114	f	Adelina Domingues	19 February 1888	21 August 2002	died U.S.
Germany	114	f	Charlotte Benkner	16 November 1889	14 May 2004	died U.S.
Italy	113	f	Amalia Ruggieri-Barone	6 October 1884	26 June 1998	died U.S.
India	112*	f	Lucy D'Abreu	24 May 1892	-	lives in UK
Morocco	111	f	Consuelo Moreno-Lopez	5 February 1893	13 November 2004	died U.S.

External links

• Table of validated living supercentenarians
• International Database on Longevity
• World's Oldest People hosted by Yahoo! Groups
• Centenarian news on NanoAging

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.)