Supercentenarian: Difference between revisions

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A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated) is someone who has reached the age of 110 years or more, something achieved by only one among hundreds of centenarians. In turn, only about one supercentenarian in fifteen lives to turn 114.

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.

Over six hundred and fifty 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 oldest documented supercentenarian is 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 age claim of Shigechiyo Izumi, born June 29, 1865, and 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.

For supercentenarians known for anything other than their extreme age, see the centenarians article. Here are a list of other particularly aged individuals:

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

• Jeanne Calment (1875 - 1997, France): February 1991 - August 1997
• Marie-Louise Meilleur (August 1880 - 1998, Canada): August 1997 to April 1998
• Sarah Knauss (September 1880 - 1999, Pennsylvania): April 1998 - December 1999
• Eva Morris (1885 - 2000, Staffordshire): December 1999 to November 2000
• Marie Brémont (1886 - 2001, Maine-et-Loire): November 2000 to June 2001
• Maude Farris-Luse (January 1887 - 2002, Michigan): June 2001 to March 2002
• Kamato Hongo (September 1887 - October 2003, Kagoshima): March 2002 to October 2003
• Mitoyo Kawate (May 1889 - November 2003, Hiroshima): October 2003 to November 2003
• Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan (August/September 1889 - present, Puerto Rico): November 2003 to present

• Shigechiyo Izumi (1865 - 1986), oldest man recognized by Guinness Book of World Records
• Herman Smith-Johannsen (1875 - 1987), cross-country skier
• Alphaeus Philemon Cole (1876 - 1988), engraver
• John Evans (1877 - June 10, 1990), British male recordholder
• Henri Perignon (October 14, 1879 - June 18, 1990), France
• James W. Wiggins (October 15, 1879 - 1991), USA
• Frederick L. Frazier (1880 - 1993), USA
• Christian Mortensen (August 1882 - April 1998), Danish immigrant to USA, oldest man widely accepted by scholars
• Johnson Parks (October 1884 - July 1998), black American, lived in Florida
• Walter Richardson (November 1885 - December 1998), Illinois
• Denzo Ishisaki (October 1886 - April 1999), only man in post-Izumi years to be oldest person in Japan
• Sadayoshi Tanabe (1888-2000), Japan
• Antonio Todde (January 1889 - January 2002), in Sardinia
  • Benjamin Harrison Holcomb (July 1889 - 2000), considered the oldest living man by the Guinness Book until Todde was known, in Oklahoma
  • John Ingram McMorran (June 1889 - February 2003), was oldest recognized male in United States 2000-2003
• Yukichi Chuganji (March 1889 - September 2003), oldest recognized man in world Jan 2002-Sept 2003, in Ogori
• Joan Riudavets (December 1889 - March 2004), oldest recognized European, world's oldest recognized man 2003-4; he rode a bicycle to age 110, on Minorca
• Fred H. Hale Sr. (December 1890 - present), born in Maine, oldest recognized man in world since March 2004, lives in Baldwinsville, New York

• Sarah Knauss (September 1880 - 1999), oldest recognized in United States history, oldest recognized in world 1998-99
• Lucy Hannah (1875 - 1993), oldest black American
• Marie-Louise Meilleur (August 1880 - 1998), oldest Canadian, oldest recognized in world 1997-98
• Jeanne Calment (1875 - 1997), oldest documented supercentenarian
• Charlotte Marion Milburn Hughes (1877 - 1993), British longevity recordholder
• Tane Ikai (1879 - 1995), oldest Japanese woman
• Christian Mortensen (1882 - 1998), oldest undisputed male, Danish immigrant to USA

• Hendrikje van Andel (born June 29 1890), oldest recognized person in Europe, oldest person in history of Netherlands, second oldest recognized in world
• Emma Verona Johnston (born August 6 1890) born in Iowa, lives in Ohio,oldest recognized in United States 2004
• Ura Koyama (born August 30 1890), oldest in Japan
• Fred H. Hale Sr. (see "World's Oldest Recognized Man" above, born December 1 1890)

• Delina Filkins (1815-1928) of Herkimer County, New York
• Betsy Russell Baker (1842-1955), British immigrant to Nebraska

• 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.)