Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 12:00, 27 March 2008

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Longevity claims" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Longevity claims are claims to extreme longevity (usually 110 or older) that either cannot be verified or for whom only some evidence is available. Longevity claims differ from existing verified supercentenarian cases, and also from longevity myths in that either some evidence exists, the case has not been proven false, and/or the claim was not constructed as a result of a longevity myth, which tends to focus on the village elder concept, fountain of youth concept, nationalist mythology, racial mythology, patriarchal mythology, etc. One test of this is the idea, put forth by William Thoms in the 1870s, of the 100th birthday test: is there evidence of the person claiming to be age 100 some 10 or more years prior to their claim? This test does not prove a person's age (indeed, Susie Brunson passed this test, but later was shown to have exaggerated her age well before this time). However, this test does separate the typical pension-claim longevity exaggeration (which tends to run to about age 115 up to 125) and the myth of longevity claim, whereby a spontaneous claim is made that a certain village elder is 150 or 167. E.g.: Bir Narayan Chaudhuri may have claimed to be 141 years old in 1998, but there was no evidence of a 100th birthday party 41 years earlier.

Problems with the documentation process

In the transitional period of record-keeping, records tend to exist for the wealthy and upper-middle classes, but are often spotty and non-existent for the poor. In the United States, birth registration did not begin in Mississippi until 1912 and was not universal until 1933. Hence, there is the problem of many cases whereby no actual birth record exists. Since some were recorded in the census, however, there may be obtainable evidence that tends to support the age claim. Sometimes, however, a single year may be off. In the case of Susie Gibson, for example, the family (and Susie herself) claimed her to be born on October 31, 1889, but no birth document has (yet) been located. The earliest record available, the 1900 census, lists her as born in October 1890. Hence, since the 1900 census is a proximate record (not written in 1890), it can be said that there is a near-certainty that Susie was at least 115, and it's still possible that she was in fact 116. In a similar, related case, inconsistent records suggested that Maggie Barnes was at least 115, but possibly a year older. Documentarians tend to 'err on the side of caution'. Thus, Barnes claimed to be 117, and was at least 115, but could have been 116.

In some cases a person may just miss the standards required for acceptance. For example, Rosa Williams of College Park, Georgia died in January 2001, allegedly born in May 1886. The 1910 census listed her as 22, suggesting she was born in May 1887 or May 1888. Hence, we cannot be certain of her age, but some evidence exists to support the claim. This type of case is said to be partially validated, although she was at least 112, so a supercentenarian regardless.

In another type of case, the only records that exist are late-life documents. Because age inflation often occurs in adulthood (to avoid military service; to apply for a pension early, or because the government began record-keeping during their mid-lifetime), unverified claims also exist. Unverified claims are less likely to be true (because the records are written later), but are still possible. However, because demographic mortality tables show ages above 130 to be extremely unlikely to be true (on the order of trillions to one odds), it would be best to assume that unverified claims to age 130 and above are automatically false, and hence best served by longevity myths. The purpose of longevity claims, then, is to serve as an inventory for the grey area between validated (certainly true cases) and mythical (cases improbable in the extreme that nonetheless may be accepted as valid under non-scientific discourses, such as religion). For example, Hanna Barysevich of Belarus, who claimed to have been 118, can neither be verified nor debunked, and the age claim was within the realm of possibility (the maximum proven age being 122). Hence, her case was a longevity claim.

Lists of longevity claims

The below lists are meant to show the present and past range of longevity claims, in the grey area between verified and impossible. The lists should be viewed as a spectrum, with the lower ages being more likely to be true and the higher ages less likely to be true.

These lists also serve the purpose of showing the wide range of distribution of extreme claims, which refutes the contention that such claims are particular to only certain "longevity villages". The lists also help to dispel the notion that one claimant should be accepted (without records) while ignoring all the other claims out there (which would also have to be accepted if records weren't required). Finally, because a few of the claims may be true but records do not exist or have not been found, the lists serve the third purpose of categorizing those grey area cases (such as the one of Maria Strelnikova of Russia) that could be true, but have not (yet) been proven as such.

Partially-validated cases (presumed to be living)

These cases have some evidence of validity, but do not meet the criteria for full validation. F.e.: the person may be listed in the 1930 census or Social Security Death Index (in the U.S.).

Name	Claimed birth	Alleged age	Residence
Richard Washington	April 13, 1893	131 years, 258 days	Darlington,  South Carolina,  United States
Virginia Call	January 4, 1894	130 years, 358 days	Illinois,  United States

Recent claims with no records (presumed to be living)

These cases have no publicly available early-life records to support them, but have been made in the press. At the very least, the person should have a claimed year, month and day of birth to be listed here. Claims that don't should be listed in the article about longevity myths. Only claims of at least 113 are included here. Note: the current oldest verified living person is Edna Parker from the United States.

Name	Claimed birth	Alleged age	Residence
Moloko Temo	July 4, 1874	150 years, 176 days	South Africa
Habib Miyan	22 May, 1878	146 years, 219 days	India
Maria Olivia da Silva	28 February, 1880	144 years, 303 days	Brazil
Tsunyelo Dora Muzila	4 May, 1880	144 years, 237 days	South Africa
Ida Stewart	5 November, 1886	138 years, 52 days	Jamaica
Józef Piotrowski	7 September, 1887	137 years, 111 days	Poland
Pearl Gartrell	1 April, 1888	136 years, 270 days	Florida,  United States
LaJean Smith	23 June, 1889	135 years, 187 days	Arkansas,  United States
Floripes Luzia Damasio	13 December, 1889	135 years, 14 days	Brazil
Clara MacLeash	1 January, 1890	134 years, 361 days	Jamaica
Pa Igboezu Asoegwu	20 April, 1890	134 years, 251 days	Nigeria
Khabibamal Khamitova	1 July, 1890	134 years, 179 days	Russia
Baji Safaorva	3 July, 1890	134 years, 177 days	Azerbaijan
Sostenes Martinez	22 April, 1891	133 years, 249 days	Mexico
Elias Athanasiades	14 May, 1891	133 years, 227 days	Greece (born in  Turkey)
Clementina Rodriguez Quiros	13 November, 1891	133 years, 44 days	Panama
Angel Alberto Rengifo Cerqura	31 December, 1891	132 years, 362 days	Colombia
María Díaz Cortés	4 January, 1892	132 years, 358 days	Spain
Rebecca Lanier	24 March, 1892	132 years, 278 days	Ohio,  United States
Carmen Catrileo Hualla	18 July, 1892	132 years, 162 days	Chile
Elizabeth Johnson	25 December, 1892	132 years, 2 days	Mississippi,  United States
Ellen Spencer	3 January, 1893	131 years, 359 days	Jamaica
Lu Zijian	15 October, 1893	131 years, 73 days	China
Tatekulu Wilhem Shinima Niilenge	6 April, 1894	130 years, 265 days	Namibia

Limbo cases (no updates within at least two years)

Name	Claimed birth	Residence	Notes
Feime Hassanova	April 1879?	Bulgaria	Last known to be living in April 1999 at the alleged age of 120.
Goshada Tsallaeva	November 15 1886?	Russia	Celebrated her alleged 120th birthday in November 2006, no updates since then.
Marfa Salaikijskaja	10 September, 1889?	Lithuania	Celebrated her alleged 115th birthday in September 2004, no updates since then.
Noninji Elizabeth Bete	21 May, 1886?	South Africa	Last known to be living in December 2005, no updates since then
Amelia Costa dos Santos	15 May, 1888?	Brazil	Last known to be living in April 2005, no updates since then

Longevity claims of the past (115+)

Note: only claims with a claimed birth and death date, and an age between 115 and 130 are included. For this article, claims above 130 are considered to be longevity myths. Disproven claims should also be listed in longevity myths. This list here represents the 'grey' area of cases on the cusp of believability.

Name	Claimed birth	Death	Alleged age	Country
Maria Do Carmo Geronimo	March 5, 1871?	July 14, 2000	129 years 101 days	Brazil
Mary Ewen	May 5, 1878?	April 10, 2007	128 years 340 days	Jamaica
Cruz Hernández	May 3, 1878?	March 8, 2007	128 years 309 days	El Salvador
Elizabeth Israel	January 27, 1875?	October 14, 2003	128 years 260 days	Dominica
Swami Kalyan Dev	June 26, 1876?	July 12, 2004	128 years 16 days	India
Benito Martínez Abrogán	June 19, 1880?	October 11, 2006	126 years 114 days	Haiti/ Cuba
Jackson Pollard	December 15, 1869?	October 25, 1995	125	Georgia,  United States
Juan Ramos	June 24, 1880?	January 24, 2006	125 years 214 days	Cuba/ USA
Abewara Grace	August 16, 1878?	January 18, 2004	125 years 155 days	Ghana
Alberta Davis	December 24, 1881?	January 27, 2007	125 years 34 days	Georgia,  United States
Anna Visser	December 25, 1878?	January 8, 2004	125 years 14 days	Namibia
Augusta Watts	August 15, 1876?	July 9, 2001	124 years 328 days	Florida,  United States
Maria Etelvina dos Santos	July 15, 1878?	March 8, 2003	124 years 236 days	Brazil
Armando Frid	May 24, 1866?	July 28, 1990	124 years 65 days	Argentina
Ana Martinha da Silva	August 27, 1880?	July 27, 2004	123 years 337 days	Brazil
Arthur Reed	June 28, 1860?	April 15, 1984	123 years 292 days	South Carolina,  United States
Hava Rexha	August 14, 1880?	November 8, 2003	123 years 86 days	Albania
Mark Thrash	December 25, 1820?	December 17, 1943	122 years 357 days	South Carolina,  United States
Oberia Coffin	December 1, 1883?	October 18, 2006	122 years 321 days	Texas,  United States
Dora Jacobs	May 6, 1880?	January 19, 2003	122 years 258 days	South Africa
Mamie Evans	July 2, 1872?	January 15, 1995	122 years 197 days	North Carolina,  United States
David Peterson	November 22, 1850?	May 31, 1973	122 years 190 days	Texas,  United States
Sarah Hoover	June 25, 1874?	December 15, 1996	122 years 173 days	Texas,  United States
Lich Nguyen	December 4, 1876?	December 11, 1998	122 years 7 days	Vietnam/ United States (died USA)
Mary Duckworth	June 4, 1861?	April 19, 1983	121 years 319 days	Mississippi,  United States
William DuBerry	February 7, 1870?	November 14, 1991	121 years 279 days	South Carolina,  United States
Annibal Camoux	1638?	1759	121 years	France
Fred Greenwell	January 26, 1880?	January 22, 2001	120 years 362 days	Tennessee,  United States
Joseph Brunner	November 26, 1706?	November 19, 1827	120 years 358 days	Bavaria,  Germany
Atidje Starkova	May 12, 1875?	January 24, 1996	120 years 257 days	Bulgaria
Du Pinhua	April 22, 1886	December 11, 2006	120 years, 233 days	China
Ruperto Hernandez	June 13, 1887?	August 10, 2007	120 years 58 days	Nicaragua
Li Cairong	November 12, 1885?	May 10, 2005	119 years 178 days	China
Emma Bodie Begay	November 3, 1887?	April 6, 2007	119 years 154 days	New Mexico,  United States
Józef Buszyło	October 7, 1887	March 8, 2007	119 years 152 days	Poland
Hanna Barysevich	May 18, 1888?	February, 23 2007	118 years 281 days	Belarus
Alberto Yoip	May 12, 1886	July 23, 2004	118 years 72 days	Cuba
Varvara Semennikova	May 10, 1890	March 9, 2008	117 years 304 days	Russia
Dominga Pantoja Nique	May 11, 1889?	February 14, 2007	117 years 279 days	Peru
Maria Andersson	December 24, 1828?	August 24, 1946	117 years 243 days	Finland
Li Ada	April 11, 1889?	September 27?, 2006	117 years 169? days	China
Katie Bruce	March 11, 1890?	July 16, 2007	117 years 127 days	Mississippi/ Missouri,  United States
Nellie Chee	October 15, 1889?	November 14, 2006	117 years 30 days	New Mexico,  United States
Anton Adner	1705?	1822	117 years	Bavaria,  Germany
Amanda Aguilar	May 3, 1890?	February 14, 2007	116 years 287 days	Nicaragua
Nils Ohrberg	January 10, 1700?	October 12, 1816	116 years 276 days	Sweden
Hryhoriy Nestor	March 15, 1891	December 14, 2007	116 years 274 days	Ukraine
Minnie Lee Nave	August 15, 1890?	November 21, 2006	116 years 98 days	Mississippi,  United States
Paweł Parniak	February 27, 1890?	March 27, 2006	116 years 28 days	Poland
Franz Josef Eder	1794?	May 5, 1911	116 years	Germany
Maria Strelnikova	March 15, 1890?	May 3, 2005	115 years 49 days	Russia

False and exaggerated claims (living)

These are claims that have been shown to be exaggerated:

• Rosa Brown of Pleasantville, New Jersey alleged to be born Mar 15, 1890; now said born in 1901

References

1. Report on Ida Stewart. Still alive as at 10 January 2008
2. Special Assistance for Centenarians
3. Earth's Elders Foundation Biography
4. MILENIO.COM » Cumplió 116 años Sóstenes Martínez, el hombre más longevo del mundo
5. http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8O7ZRsXvOz6G_-MWXPGcPYmNvHlf7ta17FgPQvGPZ_THm4j6O8b3gep3A6OPyXJQgTDapkiZ5mSNBOBKnV67/SupercentenarianLuZijian_ChineseDailyNews20070901.pdf
6. Namibia: World's Oldest Man is 113 Years And Namibian
7. Maria Do Carmo Geronimo claimed to have been the last Brazilian slave.
8. Jamaica Gleaner News - 128-y-o Jamaican woman dies - Tuesday | May 1, 2007
9. Jackson Pollard claimed to be 128 years old; his Social Security record stated 125.
10. Arthur Reed claimed to have been the last United States slave.
11. Mark Thrash was listed as 77 in the 1900 United States Census.
12. Steinalt in Altenstein | Nachrichten | mainpost.de
13. Obituary for Du Pinhua
14. El Nuevo Diario - Managua, Nicaragua - Con Todo el Poder de la Información
15. Kurek Mazurski (05/08)
16. http://pl.wikipedia.org/Najstarsi_ludzie#Najstarsi_obecnie_.C5.BCyj.C4.85cy_Polacy_.28urodzeni_do_1902_roku.29
17. Haitianos Centenarios
18. El Comercio / Nacional / Jueves, 15 de febrero de 2007
19. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/0FF07C69D16966558625731D00119049?OpenDocument
20. Nellie Chee was a Native American.
21. http://www.berchtesgadener-anzeiger.de/includes/mehr.php?id=2224
22. Bayerische Staatszeitung
23. Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
24. Guinness World Records - German - Home Page

External links

• The idea of the demographic transition of longevity claims can be found in books published by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research at .
• Lists and further discussion of cases may be found at or .

• Demography
• Lists of people by age
• Longevity claims
• Supercentenarians