Human life expectancy is constantly increasing. Especially in the last 100 years. However, this was not the case in not so distant history.
For example, from the 1500s until the early 1800s, average life expectancy across Europe remained within the range of 30 to 40 years.
Now, with advancements in modern medicine, improved lifestyles, and emerging gene modification and longevity technologies, people will likely continue to live longer and longer.
It’s probable that everyone born around the year 2100 will easily reach the age of 100 or more. However, in today’s times, there is a low chance for the individual to live beyond 100 years.
For example, in the United States, it is estimated that 1 out of 5000 people is centenarian. That would mean that there is are 0.020% chance for an average person to live over a hundred.
Nevertheless, some individuals have managed to surpass the age of 100 and live many years after that.
Therefore, we present a list of these supercentenarians. We bring you the top 10 oldest people ever recorded in history.
Let’s explore their life journeys, longevity secrets, and some interesting anecdotes that have left their names in the records of history.
Interesting fact: All the individuals on this list are women. Six out of ten lived to be 117 years old. Two were born in 1875, two in 1880, and two in 1900.
Related:
1. Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) – 122 years, 164 days
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875, in Arles, France. She lived a long and rich life, witnessing many significant historical events, including the construction of the Eiffel Tower and two world wars.
Calment married at the age of 21 and had a daughter named Yvonne, who passed away at the age of 36 from pneumonia. Calment’s husband, Fernand, was a wealthy shop owner who passed away in 1942. She lived alone for many years after his death.
Calment’s longevity attracted media attention and medical studies of her health and lifestyle. She was known for her love of chocolate, cigarettes & wine, which she claimed contributed to her long life.
Calment was also an avid cyclist and continued to ride her bicycle until the age of 100. She lived independently until the age of 110, after which she moved into a nursing home.
Interesting fact: Jeanne Calment met Vincent van Gogh when she was just 12 years old.
2. Kane Tanaka (1903–2022) – 119 years, 107 days
Kane Tanaka was a Japanese woman who lived from 1903 to 2022 and was recognized as the world’s oldest living person at the time of her death. Her longevity and enthusiasm for life made her a beloved figure in Japan and around the world.
Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, in the Fukuoka prefecture of Japan. She grew up in a large family and enjoyed playing games with her siblings. As a young adult, she worked in a rice shop and later married Hideo Tanaka. The couple had four children and adopted a fifth.
Interesting fact: In 2019, Kane Tanaka was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person. She was 116 years old at the time and had already survived two attacks of cancer (pancreatic at age 45 and colorectal at 103). Despite her age, she remained mentally sharp and enjoyed playing board games and solving arithmetic problems.
3. Sarah Knauss (1880–1999) – 119 years, 97 days
Sarah Knauss was born on September 24th, 1880, in Hollywood, Pennsylvania. She lived her entire life in Pennsylvania, and her family had a history of long lives. She married and had two children, but sadly her husband passed away in 1965. She continued living independently until she was 111 years old when she moved in with her daughter.
Sarah Knauss became the oldest living person in the world on April 16th, 1998, at the age of 117. She held this title until her death on December 30th, 1999, at the age of 119 years and 97 days. Her cause of death was natural, and she was not known to be suffering from any illness at the time of her death. An autopsy was performed, but the results were never made public.
Interesting fact: The Knauss family's commitment to each other were fundamental to understanding Sarah's exceptional longevity. Her daughter, Kathryn, also enjoyed a long life, reaching 101 years.
4. Lucile Randon (1904–2023) – 118 years, 340 days
Lucile Randon, also known as Sister André, was a French supercentenarian who lived from February 11, 1904 to January 17, 2023. She was born in Alès, France, and entered the Catholic Church at a young age.
She joined the Daughters of Charity in 1944 and worked as a nurse for most of her life.
Sister André was the world’s oldest verified living person from the death of Kane Tanaka on April 19, 2022, until her own death at the age of 118 years, 340 days.
She was also the oldest person living in Europe and the second-oldest person ever from France, behind Jeanne Calment. Her longevity was attributed to her positive attitude, her faith, and her healthy lifestyle.
Interesting fact: Sister André survived COVID-19 at the age of 116, making her the oldest known survivor of the disease at the time. She credited her longevity to "the good Lord, who has kept me in good health," and said that she was "not afraid of dying" because she believed that she would be reunited with her loved ones in heaven.
5. Nabi Tajima (1900–2018) – 117 years, 260 days
Nabi Tajima was a Japanese supercentenarian who was born on August 4, 1900, and died on April 21, 2018, at the age of 117 years and 260 days. She was the last known person born in the 19th century and the world’s oldest living person from September 2017 until her death in 2018. Tajima was born and raised in the town of Kikai, Kagoshima, Japan, where she lived her entire life.
Tajima was the third of nine children and had four siblings who lived to be over 100 years old. She married at the age of 19 and had nine children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Tajima also had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great-grandchildren. She credited her longevity to eating sushi and sleeping well.
Interesting Fact: Nabi Tajima became the world's oldest living person after Violet Brown, a Jamaican woman who was recognized as the world's oldest person and the last living subject of Queen Victoria (known also as Grandmother of Europe), died on September 15, 2017, at the age of 117 years and 189 days. Tajima held the title for seven months until her death in April 2018.
6. Marie-Louise Meilleur (1880–1998) – 117 years, 230 days
Marie-Louise Meilleur was a French-Canadian supercentenarian. She was born on August 29, 1880, in Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada. She was the oldest living person from January 25, 1997, until her death on April 16, 1998, at the age of 117 years and 230 days.
Marie-Louise Meilleur was one of the 12 children. She married her husband, Hector Meilleur, in 1900, and they had 16 children, of which only four survived her. She lived most of her life in Corbeil, Ontario, where she worked as a farmer and a mill worker. She was known for her hard work and her love for gardening.
Marie-Louise Meilleur attributed her longevity to her healthy lifestyle, hard work, and her faith in God. She did not smoke or drink alcohol, and she ate a simple diet consisting of oatmeal, fruits, and vegetables. She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, and playing cards with her family and friends.
Interesting fact: Marie-Louise Meilleur was the last person to be recognized as the oldest living person by the Guinness World Records before the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) took over the verification of supercentenarians. She was recognized as the oldest living person in the world in 1997, after the death of 122-year-old Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment.
7.Violet Brown (1900–2017) – 117 years, 189 days
Violet Brown was born on March 10, 1900, in Trelawny, Jamaica. She was the last surviving subject of Queen Victoria, who died in 1901. She was also the oldest verified living person in the world for five months, from April 15, 2017, until her death on September 15, 2017, at the age of 117 years, 189 days.
Brown was a sugarcane farmer for much of her life and was also a music teacher. She was married to Augustus Brown, and they had six children, four of whom were still alive at the time of her death. She was a devout Christian and was known for her love of singing hymns.
Interesting fact: Brown credited her longevity to her faith in God and hard work. She also ate a lot of sweet potatoes, fish, and fruits, especially oranges and mangoes. She was known for her sense of humor and her love of dancing. She was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and was an active member of her community until her death.
8. Emma Morano (1889–2017) – 117 years, 137 days
Emma Martina Luigia Morano was an Italian supercentenarian who was born on November 29, 1899, and passed away on April 15, 2017, at the age of 117 years and 137 days. She was the last surviving person born in the 1800s and held the record for being the world’s oldest living person from May 13, 2016, until her death.
Emma Morano lived in Verbania, a town in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, where she spent most of her life. She was the eldest of eight siblings and worked in a factory until her retirement in the 1950s. Emma was married in 1926, but her only child died when he was just six months old. She separated from her abusive husband in 1938 and never remarried.
Emma Morano’s longevity was attributed to her genetics and lifestyle. She claimed that her secret to a long life was eating three eggs a day, two of them raw, and living a stress-free life. She also credited her long life to her independence and staying single after a troubled marriage.
Interesting fact: Emma Morano's life spanned three centuries, and she witnessed many significant events in history, including both World Wars, the rise and fall of Fascism in Italy, and the invention of television and the internet. She was also a survivor of the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918, which claimed the lives of millions of people worldwide.
9. Chiyo Miyako (1901–2018) – 117 years, 81 days
Chiyo Miyako was a Japanese supercentenarian born on May 2, 1901, in the Kanagawa prefecture. She was known for being the oldest verified living person in the world from April 21, 2018, until her death on July 22, 2018. According to Guinness World Records, Chiyo Miyako was officially recognized as the oldest person living at the age of 117 years and 81 days.
Chiyo Miyako was a mother of five children, and she had many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren. She lived a simple life and enjoyed spending time with her family. She was known for her love of calligraphy and enjoyed writing Chinese characters.
Interesting fact: According to her family members, she never smoked or drank alcohol and ate a healthy diet. She also enjoyed walking and doing light exercise, which helped her stay active and maintain her health.
10. Delphia Welford (1875–1992) – 117 years, 66 days
Delphia Welford was a supercentenarian who claimed to have been born on September 9, 1881, in Okolona, Mississippi, USA. However, research conducted by the Gerontology Research Group between the years 2016-2023 determined that she was actually born in 1875. She was the daughter of Richard and Heddie Welford. Delphia Welford lived in Humboldt, Tennessee, USA, until her death on November 14, 1992, at the age of 117 years and 66 days. She was the oldest validated African-American person in recorded history and the second-oldest validated person from the United States.
Interesting fact: Delphia is the oldest person on record to never become the world’s oldest living person, as she was always younger than Jeanne Calment.
Challenges in Age Verification
Age verification can be a complex process involving many challenges. This is especially true when it comes to verifying the ages of the oldest people ever. Many factors can make age verification difficult, including documentation issues and research methodology.
Documentation Issues
One of the biggest challenges in age verification is documentation issues. Many of the oldest people ever lived in times when documentation was not as accurate or reliable as it is today. As a result, there may be gaps in their documentation that make it difficult to verify their ages.
For example, birth certificates may be missing or incomplete, or they may have been lost or destroyed over time. In some cases, people may not have even had birth certificates at all. This can make it difficult to determine their true ages, as there is no official record of when they were born.
Research Methodology
Another challenge in age verification is research methodology. Researchers must use a variety of methods to verify the ages of the oldest people ever. This can include using census records, family histories, and other documentation to try to piece together a person’s age.
However, these methods are not always foolproof. There may be errors or inconsistencies in the documentation, or the documentation may be incomplete. This can make it difficult to verify a person’s age with certainty.
In addition, there may be cultural or societal factors that make age verification more difficult. For example, in some cultures, people may not keep track of their ages in the same way that they do in Western cultures. This can make it difficult to determine the true ages of people from these cultures.
That being said, we also need to mention several other people who were not included in the top 10 list of longest-living people ever. They were omitted because their age verification status is not entirely clear or confirmed.
Unverified Supercentenarians
We are not claiming that these people are lying or something like that, however their birth certificates are not (yet) completely confirmed, thus we couldn’t place them on the list.
However, if their claims are true we have several new world records.
For example:
- Koku Istambulova – 129 years, 240 days
- Jean Causeur – 129 years, 58 days
- Johanna Mazibuko – 128 years, 296 days
- Elizabeth Israel – 128 years, 260 days
- Swami Kalyandev – 128 years, 23 days
Conclusion
In conclusion, the exploration of the top 10 oldest people ever recorded in history reveals extraordinary stories of longevity, resilience, and the various factors that contributed to their extended lives. These supercentenarians, all women, defied the historical norms of life expectancy.
The stories of these people emphasize the range of factors influencing longevity, from genetics and lifestyle choices to faith and positive outlooks. However, no one can name one single factor influencing longevity.
Some people on this list smoked cigarettes passionately, some drank alcohol, while some lived a very healthy lifestyle.
Perhaps one thing in common among all those people is a will for life. While no one can be certain of that, it’s rare to see genuinely bitter individuals reaching the age of 110.
Regardless of the case, we are confident that all those people lived interesting lives, and many would envy them for such longevity.
As mentioned, individuals born today, and especially in the future, will likely live longer and longer.
The barrier of 100 years will probably become something akin to today’s 70 years of age.
Cheers to all centenarians and supercentenarians out there!
