Shigechiyo Izumi
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| Shigechiyo Izumi | |
| Born | June 29, 1865? Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Ryukyu |
|---|---|
| Died | February 21, 1986 aged, 120 years, 237 days? Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Japan |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
Shigechiyo Izumi (泉 重千代 Izumi Shigechiyo? Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, June 29, 1865? – February 21, 1986) was a Japanese supercentenarian and, according to Guinness World Records, became the person with the greatest authenticated age in the world after the death of Niwa Kawamoto, also from Japan. Assuming his claimed birth-date is correct, he would have attained an age of 120 years and 237 days, older than any other recognized male, and be the second-longest lived human ever, second only to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment.[1] He also holds the record for the longest working career for a person, spanning 98 years. He was recorded as a six-year-old in Japan's first Census of 1871.
Izumi's wife died at the age of 90.[citation needed] He drank brown sugar shōchū (shōchū is a Japanese alcoholic beverage often distilled from barley or rice), and took up smoking at age 70.[2] He began his career in 1872 goading draft animals at a sugar mill, and retired as a sugarcane farmer in 1970 at the age of 105.[citation needed] He attributed his long life to "the Gods, Buddha and the Sun." He stood at 1.42 meters (four feet, eight inches) tall, weighed 42.6 kilograms (94 pounds) and lived through 71 Japanese Prime Ministers.
He died of pneumonia[1] after a brief hospitalization at 12:15 GMT, the same day as Jeanne Calment's 111th birthday. Izumi was the last recognized surviving person of the 1860s, the only male to live at least 116 years and the longest holder of the "oldest living person" title. He is also one of only two people (the other being Jeanne Calment) to live past their 120th birthday.
Following his death, Mamie Eva Keith became the world's oldest person. For more than 20 years after his death every person with the title of the world's oldest living person was female until Emiliano Mercado del Toro became the world's oldest living person on December 11, 2006.
[edit] See also
- Aging
- Lifespan
- List of the oldest people
- Longevity claims (for information on competing, but unsuccessfully verified claims of longevity)
- Longevity myths (for information on far-fetched claims of longevity)
- Oldest people
- Senescence
- Supercentenarian
- Jean Teillet (the oldest man in the world at the time if Izumi's claimed birthdate would not be not correct)
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Guniness Book of Records 1999, p.102, ISBN 0851120709
- ^ (October 1992) Guinness Book of Records, 1993 (32nd edition), Guinness World Records Limited, 320 pages. ISBN 0851129781.
| Preceded by Martha Graham (disputed) |
Oldest Recorded Person Ever December 28, 1979-October 16, 1995 |
Succeeded by Jeanne Calment |
| Preceded by Thomas Peters (disputed) |
Oldest Recorded Man Ever June 19, 1977- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Niwa Kawamoto |
Oldest Recognized Living Person November 16, 1976 – February 21, 1986 |
Succeeded by Mamie Eva Keith |
| Preceded by Frederick Butterfield |
Oldest Recognized Living Man 5 May 1973 – 21 February 1986 |
Succeeded by Joe Thomas |
