One for the ages
July 23rd 2008 02:34
When it comes to information about the world's oldest people, the Khaleej Times may not be the place to start your search. The on-line version of the UAE-based newspaper has just reported that "the identity card of Nasir Al Hazry, a resident of Al Ain in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, shows his age as 135", although his exact date of birth has "not been revealed".
This sort of light story is good occasionally for a catchy headline, but all credible news providers are aware that you can overdo the fluff. Which poses questions about the Khaleej Times because, on December 15, 2006, it reported, "A Fujairah (UAE) resident, said to be the oldest man in the emirate, passed away yesterday. He was 140 years old. The man, Ali bin Abdullah bin Ezab, hailed from the town of Dhadna, 70km from Fujairah." That report, repeated here in its entirety, was attributed to a "staff reporter".
A Google search shows that the only other news or blogosphere mentions of either of these two stories were attributed to the original reports. We will not be relying on the Khaleej Times in future for professional attention to journalistic detail.
The subject of the world's oldest citizens is an interesting one, however, and so we thought we might do a little research (Khaleej editors please note).
The title of the world's oldest person is contested, but if we limit ourselves to fully documented claims, the honour currently lies with Edna Parker of Indiana, US, whose official age is 115 years. She has seven years or so to go to beat the all-time fully documented record, held by Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who died aged 122 years and 164 days. She reportedly met Vincent van Gogh when she was 14.
The world's oldest man is generally thought to be Hryhory Nestor, of Ukraine, who is also 115. He attributes his longevity to healthy living and never getting married. He describes himself as the world’s oldest eligible bachelor.
The Russian news agency Pravda, reports that the world’s oldest person lives in Russia. Nikolai Savchenko, a resident of the Siberian city of Irkutsk, is about to turn 365. But it's all a bureaucratic bungle, with someone in the Russian passport production pipeline fumbling Mr Savchenko's year of birth. According to his passport, it is 1641. He apparently used the passport for two years, including as proof of identity when collecting his pension, before the misprint was noticed.
The Japanese have an annual Day of the Elderly on September 18. Japan has been keeping track of its long-lived residents since 1963. There were about 100 recorded centenarians then; there were about 25,000 by the end of 2005.
There is a British web site and associated newsletter devoted to the subject of extreme age. It is called The Centenarian (of course) and they take the subject seriously. Consider the following headings of feature articles on the site: "How Does the Brain Cope When You Live to 100?", "Typical Lifetime Dietary Habits of Centenarians" and "Geographical Factors Influencing Living to 100". The tone does occasionally diverge from serious discussion of the issues, such as the story headed, "Vivacious Centenarian Celebrates 100 With Hot Wings and Hot Babes". You can read that one here .
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