Oldest People

This is a list of the verified oldest people in world in ordinal rank, such as oldest person or oldest man. A supercentenarian is considered 'verified' if his or her claim has been validated by an international body that specifically deals in longevity research, such as the Gerontology Research Group and Guinness World Records. The longest unambiguously documented lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who died at age 122 years and 164 days. She met Vincent van Gogh at age 12 or 13. This led to her being noticed by the media in 1985, at age 110. Subsequent investigation found that her life was documented in the records of her native city of Arles beyond reasonable question.[2] More evidence for the Calment case has been produced than for any other supercentenarian case, which makes her case a standard among the oldest people recordholders. This is contrasted with the now-disputed claim of age 120 for the oldest man ever, Shigechiyo Izumi. While this case is still recognized by Guinness World Records, the Japanese authorities have hinted that his age was not certain. The oldest undisputed male is Christian Mortensen, who lived to be 115 years and 252 days.

Since the death of Kama Chinen on 2 May 2010, the oldest documented living person is 114 year old Eugénie Blanchard of Saint Barthélemy, France, who was born on 16 February 1896. The oldest living man since the death of Henry Allingham on 18 July 2009 is 113 year old Walter Breuning, of the United States, who was born on 21 September 1896.