Supercentenarian - Definition and Overview

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 (1/10th of 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.

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 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 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.

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

Timeline of oldest-recognized-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:

Oldest recognized living man

• Shigechiyo Izumi (June 29 1865 (?) -Feb 21 1986), oldest man recognized by Guinness Book of World Records
• Joe Thomas (May 1 1875-Dec 14 1986), American from Louisiana
• Herman Smith-Johannsen (June 15 1875 -Jan 5 1987), cross-country skier
• Alphaeus Philemon Cole (July 12 1876 -Nov 25 1988), engraver
• John Evans (Aug 19 1877 - June 10, 1990), British male recordholder
• Henri Perignon (Oct 14, 1879 - June 18, 1990), France
• James W. Wiggins (Oct 15, 1879 -Oct 16 1991), USA
• Frederick L. Frazier (Jan 27 1880 -June 14 1993), USA
• Christian Mortensen (Aug 16 1882 - April 25 1998), Danish immigrant to USA, oldest man widely accepted by scholars
• Johnson Parks (Oct 15 1884 - July 17 1998), black American, lived in Florida
• Walter Richardson (Nov 7 1885 - Dec 25 1998), Illinois
• Denzo Ishisaki (Oct 20 1886 - Apr 29 1999), only man in post-Izumi years to be oldest person in Japan
• John Painter (Sept 20 1888-Mar 1 2001), oldest record available (1900 census) supports the Sept. 1888 birthdate but other records disagree
• Antonio Todde (Jan 22 1889 - Jan 3 2002), in Sardinia
• Yukichi Chuganji (Mar 23 1889 - Sept 28 2003), oldest recognized man in world Jan 2002-Sept 2003, in Ogori
• Joan Riudavets (Dec 15 1889 - Mar 5 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. (Dec 1 1890 - Nov 19 2004), born in Maine, oldest man in world March-Nov 2004, died in Jamesville, New York
• Emiliano Mercado del Toro (born August 21 1891) of Puerto Rico, accepted by Guinness as "oldest living man" Jan 17 2005 (retroactively would be "oldest living man" since Nov 19 2004).

Among the oldest ever

• 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, 2009

• Hendrikje van Andel (born June 29, 1890), oldest person in history of Netherlands, oldest recognized in world after death of Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan.

• Ura Koyama (born August 30, 1890), oldest in Japan,presumed 2nd oldest in world on death of Emma Verona Johnston
• Bettie Wilson (born Sept 13, 1890), oldest verified living American, 3rd-oldest in world; recordholder for state of Mississippi, where she lives
• Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes (born Oct 24, 1890), oldest woman in history of Portugal, 4th-oldest in world
• Susie Gibson (born Oct 31, 1890), lives in Alabama; 5th-oldest in world; claims birth 1889--1890 is based on census records
• Grace Thaxton (born June 18, 1891), oldest living person in Kentucky, 6th-oldest in world
• Emiliano Mercado del Toro (born Aug 21, 1891), oldest living man (since Nov 19 2004), 7th-oldest in world
• Julie Winnefred Bertrand (born Sept 16, 1891), oldest living Canadian, 8th-oldest in world
• Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi (born Dec 24 1891), oldest living Italian, 9th-oldest in world
• M. Gladys Swetland (born Apr 18 1892), oldest living person in Pennsylvania

Notably early and long-lived among supercentenarians

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

National Longevity Recordholders

External links

• Table of validated living supercentenarians (http://grg.org/Adams/E_files/sheet001.htm)

• International Database on Longevity (http://www.supercentenarians.org/)

• World's Oldest People (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/) hosted by Yahoo! Groups

References

• Louis Epstein: The Oldest Human Beings (http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/oldest.html) - 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.)