Longevity claims


Longevity claims are unsubstantiated cases of asserted human longevity. Those asserting lifespans of 110 years or more are referred to as supercentenarians. Many have either no official verification or are backed only by partial evidence. Cases where longevity has been fully verified, according to modern standards of longevity research, are reflected in an established list of supercentenarians based on the work of organizations such as the Gerontology Research Group or Guinness World Records. This article lists living claims greater than that of the oldest living person whose age has been independently verified, British woman Ethel Caterham, aged, and deceased claims greater than that of the oldest person ever whose age has been verified, French woman Jeanne Calment, who died aged 122 years and 164 days. The upper limit for both lists is 130 years.

Scientific status

Prior to the 19th century, there was insufficient evidence either to demonstrate or to refute centenarian longevity. Even today, no fixed theoretical limit to human longevity is apparent. Studies in the biodemography of human longevity indicate a late-life mortality deceleration law: that death rates level off at advanced ages to a late-life mortality plateau. This implies that there is no fixed upper limit to human longevity, or fixed maximum human lifespan.
Researchers in Denmark have found a way to determine when a deceased person was born using radiocarbon dating done on the lens of the eye.

Categorization

Guinness World Records from its inception in 1955 began maintaining a list of the verified oldest people. It developed into a list of all supercentenarians whose lifespan had been verified by at least three documents, in a standardized process, according to the norms of modern longevity research. Many unverified cases have been controverted by reliable sources. Taking reliable demographic data into account, these unverified cases vary widely in their plausibility.

Fully verified claims

  • The oldest person verified by modern standards, and the only person with evidence to have lived to be at least 120 years of age, is French woman Jeanne Calment, aged 122 years and 164 days.
  • The oldest man verified by modern standards, and the only man with undisputed evidence to have lived to be over 115, is Japanese man Jiroemon Kimura, aged 116 years and 54 days.
  • The oldest verified living person is British woman Ethel Caterham, born 21 August 1909, aged.
  • The oldest verified living man is Brazilian man João Marinho Neto, born 5 October 1912, aged.

    Problems in documenting

In numerous editions from the 1960s through the 1980s, Guinness stated that
No single subject is more obscured by vanity, deceit, falsehood, and deliberate fraud than the extremes of human longevity.

This caveat notwithstanding, Guinness at the same time listed a Canadian named Pierre Joubert as the oldest person to have ever lived, with supposedly "irrefutable" documentary proof showing he had been born in 1701 and died in 1814 – it was later discovered that a father born in 1701 and his son born in 1732 had been conflated, and Joubert has been removed from lists of supercentenarians.
In another case, Lucy Hannah, previously regarded as having reached age 117, had her verification removed in 2020 following the discovery of additional documents.
Despite demographic evidence of the known extremes of modern longevity, stories in otherwise reliable sources still surface regularly, stating that these extremes have been exceeded. Responsible, modern, scientific validation of human longevity requires investigation of records following an individual from birth to the present ; purported longevity claims far outside the demonstrated records regularly fail such scrutiny.
Actuary Walter G. Bowerman stated that ill-founded longevity assertions originate mainly in remote, underdeveloped regions, among non-literate peoples, with only family testimony available as evidence. This means that people living in areas of the world with historically more comprehensive resources for record-keeping have tended to hold more claims to longevity, regardless of whether or not individuals in other parts of the world have lived longer.
In the transitional period of record-keeping, records tend to exist for the wealthy and upper-middle classes, but are often spotty and nonexistent for the middle classes and the poor. In the United States, birth registration did not begin in Mississippi until 1912 and was not universal until 1933. Hence, in many longevity cases, no actual birth record exists. This type of case is classified by gerontologists as "partially validated".

Proximate records

Since some cases were recorded in a census or in other reliable sources, obtainable evidence may complete full verification.
  • Maggie Barnes: Barnes claimed to be 117 at her death on 19 January 1998. Barnes, who was born to a former slave and married a tenant farmer, had fifteen children, 11 of whom preceded her in death. Inconsistent records suggested that she was born on 6 March 1882 at the latest, but possibly a year earlier. The conclusion is that Barnes was at least 115 years and 319 days old at her death, and may have been one or two years older.

    Late-life records

In another type of case, the only records that exist are late-life documents. Because age inflation often occurs in adulthood, or because the government may have begun record-keeping during an individual's lifetime, some cases are unverified by proximate records. These unverified cases are less likely to be true, but are still possible. Longevity narratives were not subjected to rigorous scrutiny until the work of William Thoms in 1873. Thoms proposed the 100th-birthday test: is there evidence to support an individual's claimed age at what would be their centenary birthday? This test does not prove a person's age, but does winnow out typical pension-claim longevity exaggerations and spontaneous claims that a certain relative is over 150.
  • Hanna Barysevich: Barysevich claimed to have been 118. This can be neither verified nor disproven from Belarusian records. The claim is demographically possible but incompletely verified.
  • Pasikhat Dzhukalaeva: In 2004, The Moscow Times reported that Dzhukalayeva, of Chechnya, claimed to have been born in 1881. The claim is possible but incompletely verified. Her death has not been reported since that time, so no age greater than 122 has been verifiably claimed.
  • Susie Brunson: Ebony magazine reported in 1973 that she was in good health at 102 years old, the first major claim of her longevity. She is later mentioned in 1975, when various newspapers claimed that she was celebrating her 105th birthday. An article in the Spokesman-Review claims Brunson received a call from President Ronald Reagan on her 113th birthday in 1983, and other articles written about her longevity appear later on. Her obituaries appear in Star-News newspaper and The New York Times. Her family claimed that she was born 25 December 1870 and lived to age 123, dying in late November 1994.

    Reports with complete date of birth

These are standardized lists of people whose lifespans remain unverified by proximate records, including both modern and historical cases. All cases in which an individual's supercentenarian lifespan is not backed by records sufficient to the standards of modern longevity research are listed as unverified. They may be factually true, even though records do not exist, so such lists include these grey-area cases.

Recent

These living supercentenarian cases, in descending order of claimed age, with full birth and review dates, have been updated within the past two years, but have not had their claimed age validated by an independent body such as the Gerontology Research Group or Guinness World Records. The list includes only those claims that are greater than the age of the oldest verified living person, currently Ethel Caterham, aged, but under 130 years.
NameSexReported birth dateClaimed ageCountryLatest reportRef.
Manuel García HernándezM24 December 1896Mexico2 February 2024
Marcelino Abad TolentinoM5 April 1900Peru6 April 2024
Maria Vikentyevna KononovichF27 May 1904Belarus28 January 2025
Jose Flores FloresM11 July 1907Costa Rica12 July 2024

Past

This table contains supercentenarian claims with either a known death date or no confirmation for more than two years that they were still alive. Only claims greater than that of Jeanne Calment, who died at the age of 122 years, 164 days, but under 130 years are included. They are listed in order of age as of the date of death or date last reported alive.
NameSexReported birth dateDeath date / latest report dateReported ageCountry
Ali Ben Mohamed El AmriM5 October 1880fl. 30 September 2010Tunisia
Koku IstambulovaF1 June 188927 January 2019Russia
José Aguinelo dos SantosM7 July 188820 December 2017Brazil
Maria do Carmo GerônimoF5 March 187114 June 2000Brazil
Jean CauseurM3 March 164530 April 1774129 years, 58 daysFrance
Mary EwenF5 May 187810 April 2007Jamaica
Cruz HernándezF3 May 18788 March 2007El Salvador
Johanna MazibukoF11 May 18943 March 2023South Africa
Ese GebelekF1 July 189428 March 2023Turkey
SivanandaM8 August 18963 May 2025India
Elizabeth IsraelF27 January 187514 October 2003Dominica
Safiah UjangF11 February 188926 October 2017Malaysia
Nana ShaovaF15 July 1890?21 January 2019Russia
José Rosario Serrano ArencasM5 March 188124 April 2009Colombia
Swami KalyandevM21 June 187614 July 2004India
William JohnsonM8 May 188115 May 2009United States
José Paulino GomesM4 August 189528 July 2023Brazil
Ajiben ChandravadiaF1 January 189113 December 2018India
Luo MeizhenF9 July 18859 June 2013Qing Dynasty,
China
Juana Bautista de la Candelaria RodríguezF2 February 188524 December 2012Cuba
Luang Pu Chant SiriM10 April 184923 February 1977Thailand
Bénicia Souffrant LaguerreF17 January 18931 November 2020Haiti
Halim SolmazF1 July 188429 March 2012Turkey
Tshinyelo Dora MuzilaF4 May 188014 January 2008South Africa
Leandra Becerra LumbrerasF31 August 188719 March 2015Mexico
Tian Longyu
田龙玉		F9 June 189328 September 2020Qing Dynasty,
China
Ayşe BayriF1 July 189822 September 2025Turkey
Francoise PascalF5 January 1895fl. 6 January 2022Haiti
Eida KarmiF1 January 1890?fl. 19 December 2016Syria
Greece
Goli PapiF5 April 1893?10 December 2018Iran
Nicolas SavinM17 April 176829 November 1894Russia
Maria Gonçalves dos SantosF24 June 189015 December 2016Brazil
Benito Martínez AbrogánM19 June 188011 October 2006Cuba
Margarita LacsiF30 March 187827 May 2004Argentina
Jackson PollardM25 December 18697 September 1995United States
Nuri ÖztunçM1 July 18856 March 2011Turkey
Juan RamosM24 June 188024 January 2006United States
Aberewa GraceF16 August 187818 January 2004Ghana
Masoumeh Sanei ToroghiF23 September 18986 February 2024Iraq
Anna VisserF25 December 18788 January 2004Namibia
Lü Zimei
吕紫梅		F8 August 1888fl. 4 July 2013Qing Dynasty,
China
United States
Maria Etelvina dos SantosF15 July 18788 March 2003Brazil
Hu Yeh-meiF10 February 188524 August 2009Taiwan
Mariam AmashF1 July 188822 December 2012 Israel
Socorro Medrano GuevaraF17 June 189413 September 2018Mexico
Francisca SusanoF11 September 189722 November 2021Philippines
Armando FridM24 May 186628 July 1990Argentina
Maria Verissimo de MatosF5 June 188817 June 2012Brazil
Sher Ali MiaM17 July 1894fl. 10 July 2018Bangladesh
Ana Martinha da SilvaF25 August 188027 July 2004Brazil
Carmelo Flores LauraM16 July 18909 June 2014Bolivia
Deolinda Soares RodriguesF24 June 18981 May 2022Brazil
Juana Chox YacF29 November 189327 September 2017Guatemala
Arthur ReedM28 June 186015 April 1984United States
Tanzilya BisembeyevaF14 March 189625 October 2019123 years, 225 days.Russia
Daw Mya KyiF9 October 1892fl. 17 May 2016Myanmar
Hava RexhaF14 August 18808 November 2003Albania
Appaz IlievM1 March 189610 May 2019Russia
Nguyễn Thị TrùF4 May 189312 July 2016Vietnam
Li FengfangM5 August 18788 October 2001Qing Dynasty,
China
United States
Turupu Aimaiti
图如普·艾麦提		M5 February 1892fl. 26 February 2015Qing Dynasty,
China
Live LarsdatterF6 August 15759 July 1698Denmark
Shukhrat AliyevaF1 January 18871 December 2009Brazil
Oberia CoffinF1 December 188318 October 2006United States
Sudhakar ChaturvediM20 April 189727 February 2020India
Nehemiah NdurM25 February 189010 December 2012Nigeria
Dora JacobsF6 May 188019 January 2003South Africa
Mamie EvansF2 July 187215 January 1995United States
Lin Shemu
林蛇母		F18 June 19021 January 2025Qing Dynasty,
China
David PetersonM22 November 185031 May 1973United States
Sarah HooverF25 June 187415 December 1996United States
Salma AbdulqadirF1 July 189718 December 2019Syria