Shigechiyo Izumi

Shigechiyo Izumi
Shigechiyo Izumi in 1965, at the center
Native name 泉 重千代
Born 29 June 1865 (or 1880)
Isen, Tokunoshima, Satsuma Domain, Japan
Died 21 February 1986 (aged 120 years, 7 months and 23 days or 105/106)
Isen, Ōshima District, Kagoshima, Japan
Cause of death Pneumonia
Known for Oldest man ever (alleged, disputed)

Shigechiyo Izumi (泉 重千代, Izumi Shigechiyo, 29 June 1865 (or 1880) – 21 February 1986) was a Japanese centenarian who was titled the oldest living person after the death of Niwa Kawamoto on 16 November 1976, also from Japan. His case was initially verified by Guinness World Records, who titled him the oldest man ever, but Guinness later withdrew their verification and in the Guinness World Records Book 2012 Christian Mortensen is titled "the oldest verified man ever" (since superseded by Jiroemon Kimura, see below) and Izumi is not mentioned.[1]

Biography

Izumi drank brown sugar shōchū (a Japanese alcoholic beverage often distilled from barley or rice), and took up smoking at age 70.[2]

Death and uncertainty over age

After a brief hospitalization, Izumi died of pneumonia[3] at 21:15 JST on 21 February 1986. He was one of only two people (the other being Jeanne Calment) verified to have lived past their 120th birthday, although subsequent research has discounted the verification. In April 1987, 14 months after Izumi's death, the Department of Epidemiology at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology reported that research into Izumi's family registration records indicated Izumi might have been 105 when he died.[4][5] The Guinness World Records Book 2011 states that "The birth certificate submitted as evidence might actually belong to his older brother, who died at a young age; if the family used Shigechiyo as a 'necronym'—that is, gave him his dead brother's name, as the new research suggests—this means his final age was 105 years old, not 120."[6]

The oldest undisputed case of male longevity is Jiroemon Kimura (also from Japan; lived 19 April 1897 – 12 June 2013), who died at age 116 years and 54 days.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 2012 edition of Guinness World Records, p.86, ISBN 978-91-7424-168-6
  2. ↑ Guinness Book of Records (1993 (32nd edition) ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. October 1992. pp. 320 pages. ISBN 0-85112-978-1.
  3. ↑ The Guinness Book of Records, 1999 edition, p. 102. ISBN 0-85112-070-9.
  4. ↑ Asahi News Service, APRIL 6, 1987, MONDAY, JAPANESE EXPERT DEBUNKS IDEA OF 'VILLAGE OF 100-YEAR-OLDS'
  5. ↑ "The Shigechiyo Izumi Case". Supercentenarian.com. 1987-04-06. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  6. ↑ CalmentMen1.html, No. 1 of 3; as of September 11, 2012
  7. ↑ Matsuyama, Kanoko (June 12, 2013). "Oldest man in history dies at age 116". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
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