Undisputed Oldest People Ever
Updated April 3, 2013 by Ben

1. Jeanne Calment (February 21, 1875 - August 4, 1997) France (aged 122)
2. Sarah Knauss (September 24, 1880 - December 30, 1999) United States (aged 119)
3. Lucy Hannah (July 16, 1875 - March 21, 1993) United States (aged 117)
4. Marie-Louise Meilleur (August 29, 1880 - April 16, 1998) Canada (aged 117)
5. María Capovilla (September 14, 1889 - August 27, 2006) Ecuador (aged 116)
6. Tane Ikai (January 18, 1879 - July 12, 1995) Japan (aged 116)
7. Elizabeth Bolden (August 15, 1890 - December 11, 2006) United States (aged 116)
8. Besse Cooper (August 26, 1896 - December 4, 2012) United States (aged 116)
9. Jiroemon Kimura (April 19, 1897 - present) Japan (age 115)
10. Maggie Barnes (March 6, 1882 - January 19, 1998) United States (aged 115)
11. Dina Manfredini (April 4, 1897 - December 17, 2012) United States (age 115)
12. Christian Mortensen (August 16, 1882 - April 25, 1998) United States (aged 115)
13. Charlotte Hughes (August 1, 1877 - March 17, 1993) United Kingdom (aged 115)
14. Edna Parker (April 20, 1893 - November 26, 2008) United States (aged 115)
15. Mary Ann Rhodes (August 12, 1882 - March 3, 1998) Canada (aged 115)
16. Margaret Skeete (October 27, 1878 - May 7, 1994) United States (aged 115)
17. Gertrude Baines (April 6, 1894 - September 11, 2009) United States (aged 115)
18. Emiliano Mercado del Toro (August 21, 1891 - January 24, 2007) Puerto Rico (aged 115)
19. Bettie Wilson (September 13, 1890 - February 13, 2006) United States (aged 115)
20. Julie Winnefred Bertrand (September 16, 1891 - January 18, 2007) Canada (aged 115)
21. Maria de Jesus (September 10, 1893 - January 2, 2009) Portugal (aged 115)
22. Susie Gibson (October 31, 1890 - February 16, 2006) United States (aged 115)
23. Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper (June 29, 1890 - August 30, 2005) Netherlands (aged 115)
24. Maude Farris-Luse (January 21, 1887 - March 18, 2002) United States (aged 115)
25. Marie Brémont (April 25, 1886 - June 6, 2001) France (aged 115)

Disputed Cases Addendum
Carrie C. White (November 18, 1874? - February 14, 1991) United States (aged 116?)
Kamato Hongo (September 16, 1887? - October 31, 2003) Japan (aged 116?)
Anitica Butariu (June 17, 1882? - November 21, 1997) Romania (aged 115?)

Verified Oldest Living People
Verified Oldest Living Men

When looking at these oldest validated cases, it always strikes me as quite incredible that you have two people, Jeanne Calment, and Sarah Knauss who reached ages that are so much older than their closest 'competition'. At that age, a year or two is a very significant amount of time, and it just makes their ages all the more impressive. I still wonder how on Earth that Jeanne Calment lived more than 3 years longer than Knauss, who is the closest validated person to her age. Furthermore, she was in the region of 5 years older than Lucy Hannah and Marie-Louise Meilleur, which is a massive gap. Even Sarah Knauss seems far ahead of Hannah and Meilleur, having reached not only her 118th, but also her 119th birthday. It seems all the more amazing when you think that Edna Parker would have to live another another 4 and a half years to reach Knauss' age, and nearly 8 more years to equal Calment. How did those two do it?

If you check the records, you'll find that both Jeanne Calment and Sarah Knauss were in consistently better shape than expected at their ages. Note, for example:

Jeanne Calment took up fencing at 85
rode a bicycle at 100
lived on her own (with no assistance!) until two weeks before her 110th birthday
walked until a month before her 115th birthday

Sarah Knauss, likewise, looked remarkably healthy at 100, and if you read the stories of her at age 106, 107, 111, etc...she was in far better shape than most. Even at her 117th, she still looked awesome.

'oldest person' is a misnomer...'longest lived' is a better descriptor. The determinant is not 'most aged' but how long one lasts. Thus, Arbelia Wood looked like 119, but was only 109 (or 108). Sarah Knauss looked like 109, but was 119.

Also note the extremely positive attitudes: at 107, a preacher asked Sarah Knauss what she thought about death. Her response? "I'm not going to die."

When a reporter told Jeanne Calment, "see you again, next year...maybe", she retorted, "What's the matter with you, you don't look so bad."

I think we should have a bon mots page for Jeanne Calment. When someone asked her if she ever gets bored, her response: "I think, I dream, I go over my life, I never get bored..." says it all.

One more thing to note: statistically, Nolan Ryan's 5714 strikeouts is more of an outlier than Jeanne Calment. Something to think about.

If you look at Joan Riudavets:

Walked and Rode a bike at 112
Talked on a cell phone at 110+
Wrote is signature at age 112


If you look at Walter Breuning:
He has been in a nursing for 28 years
He still walks with a walker
Talks perfectly
He wrote me a letter and signed it

It is pretty cool that you got a letter back from Walter Breuning! He does seem to be in great shape for someone of his age.

this list just proves that how good a person looks for their age does not mean much. for example, many of these people were not in very good shape like Del toro he did not seem to be in good shape at age 113, maria de couto was bedridden, and one of the oldest ever, Marie-Louise Meilleur was bedridden since 114

I expect Tomoji Tanabe to go far. He is in incredible shape. 112 and half years old and he still goes for walks, by himself. I've seen pics of him at speaking events, nad he looks good. Plus, his very positive attitude, and and fierce desire to live. Remember, mental health and attitude have been proven to have a clear connection to physical health. Almost all of the oldest lived supercentenarians have shown it. Most supercentenarians fall into depression. On antoher note, Henry Allingham, he'll go far, with his health being good enough to travel and go and speak at so many different public functions, he's obviously a step or two above the current crop.

On another note, I've been trying to figure out how Clementine Solignac has been doing since she broke her hip at age 113 last fall. Bedridden, comatose, near-comatose, what? Has she made a full recovery like Arbella Ewing, or Jeanne Calment?

Tanabe even said that he wanted to live forever and dosen't want to die. So I can tell he will live very long and surpass del Toro and Mortensen and if were lucky he may surpass Calment. You never know.

You know, I'm being reminded. Suppose I asked some random person on the street, "do you want to die?" I'd betcha they'd say no. And then I'd ask "So do you want to live forever?" They might be puzzled, but I could ask them do you just plan to die someday if you were in great shape?

In any event, by your logic, "I could tell" that they will live very long.

Absolutely! You hit it right on the nail.

-Neal.

Lets be reasonably, tanabe is not even 113. Second of all, there have been plenty of people that were in better health than him but died of pneumonia or something else way before 118+ there have been only one person out of the tens of billions people that is completed validated who reached 120, 121, or 122. For men, the record is not even 116, not even in the top ten ever. My goal for he is to reach 113 for right now.

I would agree with the opinions that Tanabe at least right now can't be expected to become one of the oldest ever. However, I would say he has a reasonable chance to climb very high on the list of oldest males. Like when talking about an athlete with good chance of winning a championships, I suppose we should say "barring injuries"... Even so, he is in very good shape, and that does make a difference, although it's not always entirely clear what "good shape" is when it comes to becoming really old.

EDIT: As to one of the posts above: Another example of how physical (and mental) "good shape" as far as we perceive it is not always a good indication of durability is Tane Ikai who was bedridden for decades.

I certainly hope Tomoji Tanabe becomes one of the oldest living people on record. I had hoped that Henry Allingham would go on to 113 or 114, as he has remained so active and so mentally sharp, but in his most recent interview he told the reporter that he felt he was going downhill, and that living much longer was "too much to ask". He also said (for the first time I can remember) that he wished he hadn't lived so long... it made me sad to hear this. Let's hope he makes it to 112 in two months time. Does anyone know much about the health of George Francis, who will also turn 112 on the same day in June?

Although I see them as very extreme cases, I feel they do fit statistically. I expect supercentenarian deaths probably fit the right hand side of a normal distribution graph (cases on the GRG probably won't as most are not validated bang on their 110th birthday, and late cases like Capovilla will arise). I would expect those at the top to be quite a way ahead of the rest. It's just the way things go.

I made some revisions to update the list and took out all disputed cases. I do not believe disputed cases should be recognized. The burden of proof is on the supercentenarian, their family, and their country. We should not wait for them to provide evidence while keeping them on the list and therefore in glory.

Greetings,

I think it would be better to post a new list, "as of", than to edit the old one.

For example, there are comments about Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes: she might have been top-25 in 2007, but not now...as others have passed her.

I think you forgot Maria de Jesus (Sep 10 1893 - Jan 2 2009) who should be after Julie Winnefred Bertrand and before Susie Gibson and therefore in 17th place.

I also noticed Edna Parker was the last person who came closest to entering the top ten "all time" oldest people. had she lived 11 more days she would have displaced Charlotte Hughes from 10th place. and that was just a little over 2 years ago.

its possible that one of the 5 people from 1896 can go on and beat charlotte hughes and if i remember right she lived for 115 years 228 days

It is possible for anyone from 1896 to become older than anyone else. Is it probable? Now that is another question entirely. I do believe that someone from 1896 will turn 115...

We'll just wait and see

there's a higher chance that one of the 1896ers would live to age 115 since we are just 6 months away from that at the very earliest.

it might be a year when no male supercentenarians die. last year only 1 died

only one verified male SC died. it's possible that male SCs would pop up years after they died. but since they were not the oldest of a country or of a big city then they might go unnoticed.

Maybe not.

We still need to consider the 1901-born males who may turn 110 this year, such as Frank Buckles and Giovanni Ligato.

Stanley Lucas, the only male supercentenarian death last year, wasn't a supercentenarian at the beginning of the year he died.

Message for Ben

Do you think we should insert the ages of the top 25 oldest people ever at the top of this list?

their birth and death dates are already there but yes i think it is better to add their exact ages also

We can do that.

Thanks Ben.

Hi Ben

I think you forgot Maria de Jesus in the top 25 Oldest People Ever

and Eva Morris, Kama Chinen and Mary Bidwell did not quite reach 115 years old. they still died at 114 years old

frank buckles became supercentenarian but didnt get verified sp why is he on wikipedia on the list of verified supercentenarians who died in 2011

I think he is just for the record but normally he could not because not verified

Epstein lists him as verified. I think we are a bit out of topic here, though.

So Cooper has surpassed Annie Jennings.
Hasegawa is on her way to surpass Bidwell, then Valentim, then Chinen and finally Morris.

Besse's ranking needs to be updated.

This thread is so old, it doesn't even include Edna Parker. So while Besse has lived longer than Annie Jennings, her ranking would stay at 23 for the moment.

Sorry Ben, you should update Chiyono's case.

unfortuanlaty Hasegawa didnt enter the top 25..she is stuck at place 26...
Besse is already at place 22...10 days away from 21th place ever!

The list has been updated to reflect the unfortunate passing of Ms. Hasegawa, along with some formatting changes and the inclusion of a disputed cases addendum.

singularity (Walter_Breuning_Fan) was correct back in January 2011 that someone (actually two) from 1896 did reach 115 years old.

* CalvinTy

Hasegawa is in 23rd palce while Cooper is in 19th place

That's correct. If undisputed cases were counted, Pieter would be correct.

Also, I have added flags to this and other lists to give them a nicer touch.