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Shigechiyo Izumi |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
| Shigechiyo Izumi | |
| Born | June 29, 1865? Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Ryukyu |
|---|---|
| Died | February 21, 1986 aged 120? years, 237 days Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Japan |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
Shigechiyo Izumi (泉 重千代 Izumi Shigechiyo? June 29, 1865? – February 21, 1986) was a Japanese supercentenarian and, according to Guinness World Records, became the oldest living person after the death of Niwa Kawamoto, also from Japan. Assuming his claimed birth-date is correct, he would have attained an age of 120 years and 237 days, older than any other recognized male, and be the second-longest lived human ever, only to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment.1 He also holds the record for the longest working career for a person, spanning 98 years. He was recorded as a six-year-old in Japan's first Census of 1871.
Izumi's wife died at the age of 90.citation needed He drank brown sugar shōchū (a Japanese alcoholic beverage often distilled from barley or rice), and took up smoking at age 70.2 He began his career in 1872 goading draft animals at a sugar mill, and retired as a sugarcane farmer in 1970 at the age of 105.citation needed He attributed his long life to "the Gods, Buddha and the Sun." He stood at 1.42 meters (four feet, eight inches) tall, weighed 42.6 kilograms (94 pounds) and lived through 71 Japanese Prime Ministers.
He died of pneumonia1 after a brief hospitalization at 12:15 GMT, the same day as Jeanne Calment's 111th birthday. Izumi was the last recognized surviving person of the 1860s, the only male to live at least 116 years and the longest holder of the "oldest living person" title. He is also one of only two people (the other being Jeanne Calment) verified to live past their 120th birthday, although subsequent research has cast doubt on the verification.34
Following his death, Mamie Eva Keith became the world's oldest person. For more than 20 years after his death every person with the title of the world's oldest living person was female until Emiliano Mercado del Toro became the world's oldest living person on December 11, 2006.
Subsequent research has cast doubt on his claim, as what was previously believed to be his birth certificate may actually have been that of his older brother, who died young and whose name might have been reused as a necronym. If so, this would mean he was 105 when he died.5
| Preceded by Martha Graham (disputed) |
Oldest Recorded Person Ever December 28, 1979 – October 16, 1995 |
Succeeded by Jeanne Calment |
| Preceded by Thomas Peters (disputed) |
Oldest Recorded Man Ever June 19, 1977 – Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Niwa Kawamoto |
Oldest Recognized Living Person November 16, 1976 – February 21, 1986 |
Succeeded by Mamie Eva Keith |
| Preceded by Frederick Butterfield |
Oldest Recognized Living Man March 9, 1974 – February 21, 1986 |
Succeeded by Joe Thomas |
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