Throughout history, there have been people whose life expectancy exceeded our wildest expectations.

All of these people lived more than 115 years, which means they can be called supercentenarians (people who lived to at least 110 years). Some of them drank and smoked all their lives, and some were very healthy image lives and all went down in history with their own secret to longevity.

There are several people, such as the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi, who, according to some estimates, reached 120 years old, as well as Shirali Muslimov, an Azerbaijani shepherd, who allegedly reached the age of 168 years - long-livers who have reached an unprecedented old age. But these cases have not been confirmed.

Here are 10 supercentenarians whose lifespans have been tested.

10. Christian Mortensen (1882-1998)

Danish-American centenarian Christian Mortensen, who lived 115 years, 252 days, is considered oldest man of those registered. He was born on August 16, 1882 and died on April 25, 1998.

Mortenson is unusual not only because he was a man (only 9.8 percent of verified supercentenarians are men), but also because he smoked several cigars a week during the 95 years of his life. He was also single for most of his life, which usually has a negative impact on life expectancy. But Mortenson became an exception to the rule here, having been married for only 10 years.

This amazing man immigrated to America in 1903, where he worked as a tailor and milkman. So what is the secret of longevity, according to Mortenson himself? "Friends, good cigars, consumption large quantity good water, abstinence from alcohol, an optimistic outlook on life and singing will ensure you a long life,” he asserted.

9. Maggie Pauline Barnes (1882 -1998)

Maggie Pauline Barnes was born into slavery on March 6, 1882. She died on January 19, 1998 at the age of 115 years and 319 days. Although little is known about her, her age alone suggests amazing life. Not only did Maggie endure the hardships of slavery in the United States, but she also outlived 11 of her 15 children.

The woman died from complications caused by a minor infection in her leg. Her story is all the more amazing because at the beginning of the 20th century, the average life expectancy was 47 years for representatives of the white Caucasian race and 40-42 years for African Americans. And although this gap is increasingly narrowing, Bruns has done the impossible by living 75 years longer average duration life.

8. Bessie Cooper (1896 -)

Bessie Cooper was born on August 26, 1896. She recently celebrated her 116th birthday, becoming the oldest living person in the world. When asked the secret to her long life, she replied, “I don’t pry into other people’s business,” and added, “And I don’t eat junk food.”

Bessie's life spans three centuries, she lived through two world wars and many other historical events.

Cooper worked as a school teacher, and after her husband died at the age of 68, she lived alone on the family farm. At 105, she moved into a nursing home.

7. Elizabeth Bolden (1890 - 2006)

Elizabeth Bolden lived from August 15, 1890 to December 11, 2006. At the time of death she was 116 years 118 days old.

She was born into a family of freed slaves in Tennessee, USA, and her life was not easy. Her longevity genes were apparently not passed on to her children, and only two of Elizabeth's seven children were alive at the time of her death. And yet, one of her descendants may be able to set a new longevity record. When she died, she left behind more than 500 direct descendants, including 75 great-great-great-great grandchildren.

Although Boden herself hasn't spoken much since her stroke in 2004, she happily celebrated her 116th birthday by trying two of her favorite treats: ice cream and candy.

6. Tain Ikai (1879 -1995)

With an incredible lifespan of 116 years 175 days, Tein Ikai is both the oldest confirmed specimen in Japan and Asia. The woman was born on January 18, 1879 into a family of farmers in the city of Kansei in Japan. She married at age 20 and had 4 children, whom she outlived by the time of her death on July 12, 1995.

Thane enjoyed making embroidery and ceramics. She ate mostly rice porridge, which, combined with a traditional Japanese diet, may have helped protect her from heart disease and cancer.

An autopsy after her death revealed that the centenarian died of kidney failure. So far, she is the only supercentenarian who has undergone an autopsy.

5. Maria Capovilla (1889 - 2006)

Ecuadorian centenarian Maria Capovilla was born on September 14, 1889, the same year the Eiffel Tower was unveiled to the public. Having lived 347 days to 116 years, she became the oldest South American woman in history, as well as the longest living person in history. southern hemisphere. Capovilla died on August 27, 2006, just under a month short of her 117th birthday.

She was the picture of health and energy almost until the end of her life, although she drank a little alcohol, but never smoked. She was born into the family of a colonel and lived among the elite of Ecuador, and in 1917 she married an officer, Italian by birth, Antonio Capovilla.

When she was 99 years old, she suddenly fell ill and was practically buried in catholic church. But she survived, and after that she walked without a cane, read newspapers, watched TV and was in good health. Three of her five children were alive at the time of her death, and they were 78, 80 and 81 years old.

4. Maria Louise Mailer (1880 – 1998)

Marie Louise Mailer was 117 years 230 days old when she died on April 16, 1998. Interestingly, at the time of her death, one of her sons lived in the same nursing home as herself, and her daughter was 90 years old.

The French-Canadian centenarian was born in Quebec, Canada on August 29, 1880. Her first husband died of pneumonia when she was 30 years old. Mailer then moved to the Quebec-Ontario border, where she met her second husband, Hector Mailer.

The woman believed that her longevity was due to hard work and this is not surprising, given that she had 10 children and two marriages. The centenarian also liked to occasionally drink a glass of wine, and quit smoking when she was 90 years old, 27 years before her death.

3. Lucy Hannah (1875 -1993)

Lucy Hannah was never awarded the title of oldest person in history, simply because she lived at the same time as Jeanne Calment, who received this title.

Despite this, Hannah lived to a ripe 117 years and 248 days and is the oldest African American woman and the third oldest person in history.

She was born in Alabama in the USA on July 16, 1875. In 1901 she married John Hannah and had 8 children, 6 of whom she survived. Two of Hannah's sisters lived to be 100 years old, and her mother lived to be 99 years old.

2. Sarah Knauss (1880 -1999)

Sarah Knauss is the second oldest person in history. She died at the age of 119 years 97 days. This amazing woman was born on September 24, 1880 and died on December 30, 1999, just a few days shy of the 21st century. Obviously this didn't bother Sarah at all. When she was told that she had become the oldest person in the world, she replied: “So what.”

Her daughters described their mother as incredibly calm, undisturbed by anything. Perhaps this was the secret of her long life, since excessive stress negatively affects human health.

Knauss survived 7 American wars, Great Depression and the death of her husband after 64 years of marriage. At the time of her death, she was already older than the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty in the United States.

1. Jeanne Kalman (1875 – 1997)

Jeanne Kalment is the oldest person who has ever lived on Earth, and so far no one has been able to beat her record of 122 years 164 days. She was born in Arles, France on February 21, 1875 and died on August 4, 1997. During her life, she witnessed the invention of the automobile, cinema, stainless steel, television and airplanes.

Surprisingly, she even met Vincent van Gogh when she was 13, whom she described as "dirty, unkempt and scowling."

Kalman, like Sarah Knauss, had “immunity to stress.” She could also boast of wit and at every birthday she announced a new secret to longevity.

The centenarian rode a bicycle and drank port until she was 100 years old, and also smoked almost until she died. She claimed that laughter physical activity and a strong stomach helped her live to an old age. And her best advice there was a saying: “If you can’t do anything about it, don’t bother.”

Their names are included in the Guinness Book of Records, their national fame spreads far beyond the borders of their native country. This is because these people are long-lived people who have long since crossed the 100-year mark.

Jeanne Kalman and the Guinness Book of Records

The longest living officially recognized the person was a native of France, Jeanne Calment. She was 122 years old at the time of her death on August 4, 1997. Born on February 21, 1875, she survived two world wars and also saw Vincent Van Gogh with her own eyes. Her age is officially confirmed and recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest living person on earth.

The Frenchwoman did not lead a healthy lifestyle, loved sweets and wine, and also smoked a couple of cigarettes a day. However, her favorite means of transportation was a bicycle. The old woman explained her secret to longevity by her good sense of humor and lack of stress. I didn’t work, led an active lifestyle, loved fresh fruit, and spent a lot of time outdoors.

At the age of 90, Jeanne Calment made a deal with lawyer Raffrey. According to this deal, the lawyer paid the old woman 2,500 francs every month, and in return, after her death, he was supposed to receive her house, because the Frenchwoman outlived all her heirs. But Raffre died at the age of 77, and his widow paid the old woman money for another 2 years. In total, the house cost the Raffre family at least 2 times more, but there were no hard feelings; everyone treated the old lady with great respect.

Officially confirmed The longest living countries can be called the USA. 45 US natives are among the top 100 longest-living people in the world. In second place is Japan, where 25 people officially confirmed their age. Next comes France, Great Britain and Italy.

The terrain also affects life expectancy, so it has been noted that in mountainous areas the percentage of centenarians is higher. The Hunza tribe located in India is of great interest. In this tribe, according to local residents, almost everyone lives to be 110 years of age or higher, but this is not documented. Some attribute this to a diet consisting mainly of fresh fruits and vegetables and virtually complete absence meat.

There are many more undocumented cases. Wars and disasters destroy documents, making it simply impossible to confirm the age of some people.

Officially the oldest person of the living recognized Japanese Nabi Tajima, who was born on August 4, 1900 and today she is 117 years 112 days old.

The list of the world's centenarians can be found on Wikipedia. As seen There are many more long-lived women, out of the 100 most oldest people in the world, only 6! men, all others women.

If we consider not official Statistics of interest are the Hindu Mahashta Murasi, who today should be 181 years old. He was born in 1835 and lives in Indian city ​​of the dead- Varanasi. However, no documents confirming his age were found. Mahashta himself says that he outlived many of his relatives.

There are many more officially unconfirmed cases of longevity. So, according to José Aginelo dos Santos, he was born on July 7, 1888 in Brazil in the city of Pedra Branca. His father was a slave, but he was already born a free man. To this day, he remains sober and often jokes about his age.

The most incredible incident long life attributed to Li Qingyun, who is said to have lived for 256 years. A native of China, he was born in Qijiangxiang, Sichuan Province in 1677 and died in 1933. He spent most of his life in the mountains, where he studied and collected herbs. Then he traveled around China, staying for a long time in Tibet. Li practiced Qigong breathing techniques, which were given to him by a 500-year-old hermit living in the mountains. Lee had 124 wives and 180 children. To this day, it is not known for sure whether the Chinese herbalist lived for so long, but there are quite a few documents confirming this, so in 1930 documents were found with official congratulations for 1827 on the 150th anniversary and for 1877 on the 200th anniversary.

In 1928, a journalist from the New York Times came to the place where Lee lived and interviewed local residents. They confirmed that the old man does not change in appearance. He was two meters tall with a ruddy complexion. He always remained a cheerful, unchanged old man who was still friends with their ancestors, who had long since died. When asked about the secret of long life, Lee said:

“Keep your heart still, sit like a turtle, walk like a dove, and sleep like a dog.”

Long life has always attracted the attention of mankind. Just remember the attempts to create the philosopher's stone, one of the functions of which was supposed to be immortality. And even in modern times, there are a lot of diets, recommendations about life and numerous pseudo-secrets that supposedly will allow a person to live longer than his fellow tribesmen. However, no one has yet been able to guarantee an increase, which is why people are curious about those who have managed to do it.

Let's define it in terms

First of all, we need to figure out who should be classified as “Centenarians of the Planet”. The most common definition is those whose age has exceeded 90 years. In this case, there are quite a lot of these people. There are about 350 thousand of them in Russia alone. Some sources suggest that those who have already celebrated their centenary anniversary be considered centenarians. And this is also not a record - there are almost seven thousand such people among Russians.

The second difficulty: who to believe and how to check. Anyone can claim that they turned, say, 150, and do so quite convincingly, if they know history well native land. So the planet’s centenarians are conditionally divided into two groups: verified (that is, those whose age is documented) and presumptive - those who cannot accurately prove their date of birth.

And the third problem: to choose a winner from those who are still alive, or to take into account everyone who has crossed the 110-year mark? After all, many of the planet’s long-livers, the list of which is not so short, still managed to die.

Official record holder

A proven winner who lived until 2012 was Georgian Khvichava, who fell just shy of 133 years old. Documents confirming her birth in 1880 were found to be authentic, so this is the same an old man(woman) was awarded an entry in the Guinness Book of Records and received a corresponding certificate. It is noteworthy that Khvichava maintained her mental alertness until the last day. Despite the fact that all of her seniority was associated with agriculture, she was invariably interested in cutting-edge innovations: shortly before her death, she wanted her relatives to teach her how to communicate with a computer. It can be said that on this moment This is the oldest centenarian on the planet. No one has yet broken the record for the duration of earthly existence.

Second winner

And this is also a woman. She died even before Khvichava, in 1997, but until that time she confidently held the lead. This time the former was born in France, five years earlier than the Georgian, but, alas, she died, nine years short of the next record. Her life span was limited to 122 and a half years. The name on the list of “Centenarians of the Planet” was also noted for its irrepressible sense of humor, demonstrated until the last day. In addition, the Frenchwoman was simply a volcano of energy: at 85 she began fencing seriously, at 100 she became interested in cycling, almost professionally.

Most common age

In the summer of 2013, another one of those who are called the planet’s centenarians died. He lived to be 115 years old, a Japanese man from Kamiukawa named Jiroemon Kimura. He received the title of winner in 2012 due to the fact that there are no older people left in the world with proof of their age. Recipes for long-livers, it must be said, are varied. If for Zhanna it was cheerfulness and activity, then for Kimura it was primarily a moderate and balanced diet.

By the way, the previous record holder, Christian Mortensen, a Dane by birth and an American by nationality, lived the same number of years (115). His contribution to recipes for longevity is no red meat, plenty of fish, optimism, friends and singing.

115 seems to be the most popular age for long-lived people. The Puerto Rican del Toro also lived up to these years and was also among the record holders. But at the moment, no one has yet reached this milestone, so now the oldest is again considered to be the Japanese Tomoji Tanabe, born in 1895. However, he doesn’t have much time left until the cherished date.

general Statistics

Noteworthy is the fact that there are much more long-lived women than men. Thus, in 2007, 84 people were officially registered in the world who were over 110 years old, and only nine of them were male.

There are almost two hundred thousand of those who are over 100 but under 110 years old in the world, and the gender ratio is again not in favor of men, although not so depressing.

Japan produces a lot of long-livers and mountainous countries, including Abkhazia, Georgia, Circassia, Azerbaijan. In Karachaevsk, a club called the “Society of Centennial Anniversaries” has even been created, which includes eight members, the youngest of whom is 104 years old. And in Japan there are more than 28 thousand people over 100, and this figure is growing every year.

Unofficial centenarians

However, so far we have listed those who, without any doubt, were able to prove their age. This list does not include other “very, very best” - long-livers of the planet who did not have the opportunity to prove this for very objective reasons: wars, destroyed churches with records of newborns, small villages where there were no literate people... However, the likelihood of their stated age matching is actually quite high. Therefore, it is still worth mentioning the Hungarians Petridge and Zortai, who lived 186 and 185 years, respectively, the Ossetian Tense Abzive, who reached 180, the Albanian Hanjer, who died at the age of 170, and the Pakistani Sayyad Mabud, who was only a year short of reaching 160.

Absolute record

If you do not demand absolutely accurate evidence from the applicant for the title, then the oldest centenarian on the planet has already been unambiguously established. The record belongs to a Chinese named Li Ching-Yun, who died in 1933. He himself considered the year of his birth to be 1736, that is, at the time of his death he was 197 years old. However, this age was refuted, and, oddly enough, to a greater extent. University professor Wu Changshin discovered documents indicating the birth of Li back in 1677. Moreover, reliable, documented data has been preserved about the congratulations of this man by the Chinese emperor, and they related to his 150 and 200 anniversary anniversaries. Such double confirmation requires painstaking research, so Lee’s title in the “Long-Livers of the Planet” category has not yet been proven, but neither has it been refuted.

Mysterious country

However, this is not the only and not the biggest mystery regarding the lifespan of individual representatives of humanity. For decades now, scientists have been haunted by the mystery of the Indian Hunza tribe. Its members do not get sick, do not suffer from caries, have excellent vision and live more than 110 years, all of them. And this despite the fact that neighboring tribes have a full range of all modern (and even forgotten by civilization) diseases, and the average does not even reach 60. The Hunza have their own recipes for long-livers: meat - only on holidays, vegetables - raw, and a lot of fruits . The main thing in these nutritional principles is to never deviate from them. Even in the spring, in the absence of fresh fruit, they do not deviate from their chosen path. Instead of breakfast-lunch-dinner during these difficult months, the Hunza drink a glass of juice from fruits harvested last summer once a day.

Perhaps the reasons for the longevity and relative youth of this people include their habit of bathing in ice water, as well as extreme physical activity. As a result, Hunza women over 60 give birth to healthy, viable offspring. Researchers have also noted the high natural cheerfulness of the Hunza, who attribute a significant part of their longevity to it.

Scientists have not figured out why some are different. There are no recipes for longevity that apply to everyone: some indulged in bad habits, some ate only fish or fruits, some led an active life, and some allowed themselves to be lazy... The only one common feature All centenarians have optimism and cheerfulness. Maybe this is the treasured philosopher's stone?

Gerontologists are scientists who study the problem of human aging, which is quite relevant today.

At the same time, experts related to the study of the capabilities of the human body argue that the age indicator is at a low level, since human body capable of leading an active lifestyle up to 120 years, but it turns out that humanity lives on average 30-40% less than the allotted period. This is influenced by many factors, which can be seen in the example of people who have crossed the age threshold.

Definition of the concept

Centenarians are considered to be people whose age exceeds 90 years. This figure is officially presented in the WHO classification. However, in Lately There is a tendency to include citizens who have celebrated their 100th anniversary in the “clan” of long-lived citizens. It must be said that there are many such people: in our country alone, which is considered one of the most unfavorable in terms of life expectancy, there are about 350 people, and the figure tends to increase every year. However, with precise definition There are some caveats to this concept:

1. Many of the world's centenarians, whose names are contained in the Guinness Book of Records, lead a fairly active lifestyle, but admit that they are tired of it. Moreover, such “old people” can often be found among representatives of 30 years of age. As a result, the concept of “long-liver” makes sense to understand not only life expectancy in numbers, but also the ability to maintain clear consciousness and good health at that age.
2. The second most important point is that a long-lived person has official documents, serving as confirmation of the date of his birth. Here everything is much more complicated, because past century humanity has gone through military atrocities, countless different cataclysms that provoked the loss of papers. And ordinary family troubles can lead to such unpleasant consequences. For this reason, there are verified and presumed centenarians, the latter of whom have to present indirect evidence to confirm their age.

According to statistics, long-livers are much more common among the female population than among men. Scientists do not yet have an explanation for this fact. However, if you look at ordinary statistics, a similar trend is also observed there, for which there are well-founded reasons. So, one of the reasons why women live longer, are numerous bad habits, as well as the excessive workload to which men are exposed.

Secrets of longevity

Scientists around the world are trying to unravel the mystery kept by long-lived people. In the process of numerous studies, they take into account the following factors:

• ecology;
• level of medicine and social opportunities;
• nutritional features.

The region of residence is also taken into account, the factor of which occupies a leading position in the list of assumptions about the secret of longevity. Thus, it has been noticed that a fairly large number of elderly people live in mountainous regions. Japan, on the other hand, holds the record for the number of centenarians whose age has exceeded the 100-year mark. This fact even causes certain concerns among the government of the country, since the nation is aging, and the number of “elders” is constantly increasing.

However, scientists still cannot unravel the secrets of the centenarians living in the village of Acciaroli. Figuratively, among 500 village residents, 300 are over 100 years old. At the same time, they lead a fairly active lifestyle, not excluding the intimate component.

The Indian Hunza tribe is of particular interest to scientists. The names of representatives of this tribe cannot be found in the leading rankings of world centenarians. At the same time, living a life exceeding 110 years, the natives are the owners of acute vision, strong teeth, devoid of hints of caries, and excellent health. Here, the reason largely lies in the dietary habits and lifestyle of the tribe members, who:

1. in food, preference is given to raw vegetable and fruit products, and significant occasions become the occasion to eat meat;
2. are constantly engaged physical culture and practice hardening the body.

Women 60 years old are still at reproductive age, giving birth to strong and healthy babies. And all the representatives of “Hunza” are distinguished by unbending optimism.

As for world states, here we should pay attention to our country. Many long-livers of Russia live in Abkhazia, whose residents also adhere to the principle of “optimism”, not taking bad things to heart. And they do it well, since people there live to be 120 years old. Also worth mentioning:

1. United States. This is a country with a decent number of centenarians. It would seem almost ruined ecological situation, as well as frequent stress and depression, should have a negative impact on life expectancy. However high level medicine and economics are correcting the situation. Thus, today there are about 80 thousand centenarians living in the United States.
2. Cuba. It is impossible not to mention Cuba, which has about 3 thousand elderly citizens per 11 million population. The secret also lies in the government's close attention to health issues.
3. Taiwan. Another “long-living state”. Despite the small population, most of it is made up of people 100 years of age and older.

Centenarians of the Guinness Book of Records

The world's centenarians, who were made famous by the Guinness Book of Records, are mostly female:

1. Maggie Pauline Barnes. She lived 115 years and 319 days. It is considered a real unique one, since she was able to go through such a long life path under conditions of slavery.
2. Tane Ikai. A Japanese woman who lived to be 116 years old claimed that her secret was her love of seafood.
3. Maria Louise Mailer. A Canadian by birth, she was able to reach the age of 117 years and 230 days, being able to work until the end of her life. At the same time, Maria Louise was the mother of 10 children, as well as a lover of alcohol and tobacco products.
4. Misao Okawa. Another representative of the Japanese nation, who passed away at the age of 117 years and 27 days.

Many of the representatives of age records have crossed the line of 116 years. But Sarah Knaus from the United States was able to live to 119 years.

As for the male category of the population, the following names can be found on this list:

• Japanese Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to be 116 years old;
• a Dane who emigrated to the States, Christian Mortensen, who lived 115 years and 252 days;
• Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado del Toro managed to live to 115 years and 163 days.

The absolute record for the entire history of human existence was set by the Chinese Li Ching-Yun, who was 197 years old at the time of his death. However, some scientists, citing archival data, refute this age, changing it upward. For this reason, Lee Ching-Yun is the most famous centenarian in the world in history, whose record has not yet been broken by anyone.

Stories of centenarians

All centenarians on the planet have unique and interesting stories their lives, and also have the secrets of their own longevity. I would like to draw your attention to the most interesting and memorable:

1. Jeanne-Louise Calment

For many years, the French native topped the list of the longest living people on Earth with an age of 112 years and 164 days.

The main secret of longevity, according to Kalman herself, is constant physical activity. It must be said that the lady was a professional racer, and by the age of 85 she learned fencing. Jeanne Kalman before last days was of sound mind and retained a subtle sense of humor.

At the same time, the Frenchwoman drank a glass of port every day and was not averse to missing a cigarette or two.

1. Antisa Khvichava

Representative modern world is the Georgian Antisa Khvichava, who practically lived to be 133 years old. For 85 years, her main job was picking tea on plantations, which was due to her lack of literacy. At the same time, Khvichava was actively interested in scientific fields and wanted to learn how to use a computer. By nature, she was distinguished by her liveliness of mind and curiosity.

Scientists' opinion

In such a complex and interesting question longevity, one cannot fail to mention the opinions and research results of some scientists. So:

1. Anatomy professor Leonard Hayflick discovered a connection between human lifespan and the ratio of brain mass to body mass. According to the Californian scientist, the onset of aging occurs when growth stops. By the way, many scientists adhere to this pattern, as a result of which professors of medical fields recommend use of Ginkgo biloba, a drug that provides beneficial influence on brain activity.
2. Scientists from medical center in Kyoto they are convinced that the hereditary factor has a huge influence on life expectancy.

As you can see, the secret of longevity still remains undiscovered, and, probably, each centenarian has his own. However, there is still one thing in common between all centenarians - optimism and love of life, which once again proves: by enjoying life, you can live up to 100 years!

Probably each of us has had the thought that we would like to live as long as possible. Perhaps someone would not mind claiming the title of “Longest living person in the world.” So, who are the centenarians and what is the secret of their longevity?

A long-liver among the human race is considered to be one whose age is significantly greater than the average statistical norm. Each country has its own age for centenarians. For example, in the USA this figure is 85 years, in Russia - 90 years. The global longevity is 90 years.

If we rely on official data from the Book of Records, the longest-living person in the world among women is Jeanne-Louise Calment from France, who reached 122 years, and among men, Jiroemon Kimura from Japan, who lived to 116 years. Let's get to know them a little better.

Longest living person in the world: Jeanne Kalment

In her life, this respectable lady has never faced work, which, in her opinion, is the secret of longevity. Instead of wasting time sitting in the office, Kelman worked out. Her program included a wide variety of sports - from tennis to fencing. The Frenchwoman associated her long life with the fact that she ate a lot of vegetables and practically did not eat meat products. It is worth noting that Zhanna Kelman smoked even at one hundred and seventeen years old. The reason for giving up smoking was not the state of her health, but the very fact that she had to ask someone to light a cigarette, since she herself had almost lost her sight. Zhanna Kelman died in August 1997.

Famous centenarians of the 21st century: Jiroemon Kimura

He was born in the city of Ketango and worked at the post office until retirement. But instead of taking a well-deserved rest, he decided to take up farming. Kimura celebrated his 116th birthday with a huge number of relatives: 15 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren. The mayor of Ketango came to see him personally for his birthday. In order to live at least a hundred years, you need to eat fish. This is the secret of longevity from the point of view of this centenarian. The Japanese did not drink alcohol, did not overeat, but smoked. Jiroemon Kimura died on June 12, 2013.

If we take historical data, then the title of “The Oldest Man in the World” deserves the Chinese Lee Ching-Yun. He died in 1933 at the age of 256 years. Throughout his life he had 23 wives and 180 heirs. Physically, Lee Ching-Yun was strong: at the age of 70 he taught martial arts in the Chinese army. To strengthen his health, the man drank infusions from medicinal herbs which he collected himself. Doing exercises with early childhood, peace of mind, eating rice and wine is the secret of Lee Ching-Yun's longevity. According to Chinese archives, the world's longest-living man received congratulations from the Imperial Government of China on his 150th and 200th anniversaries.

The most famous country in terms of the number of centenarians is Japan, second place belongs to Sweden, and Great Britain is in third place. The secret to the longevity of the inhabitants of these countries can be considered the consumption of large amounts of seafood, soy, and green tea. According to modern scientists, the longest-living people have a certain genetic combination that allows them to live long. Around the world there are only about 5% of such unique people. Of course, life expectancy is influenced not only by this factor, but also by many other things: our lifestyle, various diseases, stress, ecology, nutrition.