These supercentenarians have given advice to people on how to live long and how to live happily. Their ages have been documented with varying degrees of authenticity. For example, Christian Mortensen and Jeanne Louise Calment are recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest man and woman respectively, though Almihan Sayit in China says she is 127. Whatever their precise ages, these people have walked the Earth longer than most, and are able to look back on many experiences and distill some truth.
Almihan Sayit, 127, from northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been crowned the country’s oldest person by the Gerontological Society of China (GSC). (Screenshot/YouTube)
Christian Mortensen enjoys a birthday cigar during his 115 birthday celebration at The Aldersly Garden Retirement Community, Aug. 15, 1997. (Monica M. Davey/AFP/Getty Images)
Christian Mortensen was a Dutch-American who lived in California.
Image of birthday candles via Shutterstock
Jeanne Louise Calment of Arles, France, lived a life of relative ease, spending much of her time bicycling, swimming, roller skating, going to opera, and playing piano.
Jiroemon Kimura celebrates his 116th birthday at his home in Kyotango, Kyoto, Japan. (Kyotango City Government via Getty Images)
Jiroemon Kimura was born in 1897, has 7 children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
Image of bananas via Shutterstock
Salustiano Sanchez-Blazquez lived in New York. Read more about him here.
Carmelo Flores Laura (Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images)
Carmelo Flores Laura is an Aymara native living in the foothills of Bolivia’s Illampu mountains.
Yisrael Kristal is a candy-maker. He also told Haartz: “The world is worse than in the past. ... I don’t like the permissiveness here. Everything’s allowed. At one time, young people weren’t as cheeky as they are now. They had to think about a profession and about making a living. They were carpenters, tailors. That doesn’t exist today. Now it’s all high-tech. Things come easily, without effort, without the manual labor of the past. When were children, our parents told us, ‘You’ll marry this one, not that one.’ Today, children decide everything. Once upon a time, parents had the last word.”
Misao Okawa reacts during her 115th birthday celebrations at Kurenai Nursing Home in Osaka, Japan, on March 5, 2013. (Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
A descendant of Kimono merchants, Misao Okawa married in 1919 and had three children, of which a daughter and a son are still alive, and four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
