World's Oldest Man Dead

Photo Credit - AFP Photo by Kyotango government

Lai lai i disagree. What about all those old shriveled people in Naija villages. In-fact i have seen some Obituary posters that they stamp 120 years, 125 years my grandma died at 129 so what are they saying?.

The world's oldest person and the oldest man ever to have lived has died of natural causes aged 116, officials in Japan said on yesterday. Jiroemon Kimura, who was born in 1897, died in hospital early Wednesday morning "from old age", an official in Kyoto's Kyotango city said in a statement. 

Kimura, who was from Kyotango, was hospitalised in early May suffering from pneumonia. A few days ago doctors noted that his condition was worsening,

Kimura was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person in December 2012, after a woman from the United States died at the age of 115.



That month he also broke another record when he was verified as the oldest man ever to have lived, after reaching the age of 115 years and 253 days.

However, he was well off the all-time record set by French woman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, making her the longest living person in history.

Kimura, who was born the same year as American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, celebrated his 116th birthday in April, receiving a pre-recorded video greeting from Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The centenarian had seven children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grand children and 15 great-great grandchildren, and worked at a post office for about 40 years. After retiring he took up farming which he continued to do until the age of 90.

He did not smoke and only ate until he was 80 percent full, the local official told AFP.

Kimura's motto in life was "to eat light and live long," the official added.


The image below shows Jeanne Calment enjoying a chocolate cake on her 122nd birthday, in Arles, France, on February 21, 1997. Calment died in in August that year, becoming the longest living person in history.