The world’s oldest people
The oldest person ever was Jeanne Calment, from Arles in France, who died at the age of 122 in 1997.
She was then the oldest living person to be authenticated by reliable records and was entered into the Guinness Book of Records. She met Van Gogh as a girl when he visited her father’s shop in 1888. At the age 85 she took up fencing lessons and at the age of 100 she was still riding a bicyle. She credited her longevity to Port wine, a diet rich in olive oil and her sense of humour. Though blind, almost deaf and in a wheelchair, Calment remained spritely and mentally sharp until her death.
The oldest living person
As of Saturday, 10th December, 2005
Quito:A 116-year-old woman from Ecuador is now officially the world’s oldest person.
Maria Esther Capovilla took the title froman American woman after relatives sent her birth certificate details to the Guinness World Records.
Elizabeth Bolden, 115, of Memphis, Tennessee, was previously believed to be the oldest.
Mrs Capovilla was born in Guayaquil, in western Ecuador, on September 14, 1889, and still lives with her son and his wife.
She has five children, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1949.
Emiliano Mercado Dei Toro, 114, of Puerto Rico, is the world’s oldest man.
Oldest ever(so far)
The oldest living woman is Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper who was born in the Netherlands on 29 June 1890. She was recorded as the oldest in the world at the age of 111 and 335 days on 29 May 2004. She took the title after the death of Ramona Trinidad Iglesias Jordan from Puerto Rico who died aged 114 and 272 days.
Aunt Hennie as she is known is the youngest eldest person since 1987 when the oldest person was the USs Mary McKinney (1873-1987). The last Dutch person to claim the title was Kiet Portier Tan (1855-1963) who was 107 and 343 days.
Although she has failing eyesight she is in good health, supports the Dutch football team Ajax and lives in a nursing home in Hoogeveen.
The oldest person in the UK lives in Stirling, Scotland. She is Lucy Victoria dAbreau who was born in India on 24 May 1892. She became the oldest person in Scotland on 30 October 2002 at the age of 111 and 339 days. Her recipe for a long life is a sundowner of brandy and ginger ale.
The oldest man
Is Emiliano Mercado Del Toro who was born in Cabo Roco who was born on 21 August 1891. He was declared the oldest man on 17 January 2005 at the age of 113 and 149 days. He joined the US army in 1819 but two months into his training the First World War ended on 11 November 1918.