The question of how long a human being can live has fascinated scientists, philosophers, and ordinary people throughout history. Modern demographic research and improvements in birth record verification have made it possible to identify with reasonable certainty the individuals who have lived the longest confirmed lives. All entries on this list are verified by the Gerontology Research Group and Guinness World Records through rigorous documentary evidence — birth certificates, baptism records, census data, and cross-verification by multiple historians. Here are the ten oldest confirmed persons in recorded human history.
1. Jeanne Louise Calment — 122 Years, 164 Days (France)
Jeanne Louise Calment holds the undisputed record as the longest-lived person in recorded history — a title she is unlikely to relinquish in the foreseeable future. Born on February 21, 1875, in Arles, France, she died on August 4, 1997, having lived through two World Wars, the invention of the automobile, radio, television, and the internet. Calment reportedly met Vincent van Gogh as a young girl when the painter visited her father’s art supply shop in Arles — making her the last known living person to have met the legendary artist. She took up fencing at 85, rode a bicycle until she was 100, and reportedly gave up smoking at 117, having smoked since she was 21. When asked about her exceptional longevity, she credited olive oil, port wine, and a tranquil temperament. The rigorous verification of her records has been subjected to academic scrutiny — with French demographers comprehensively defending its accuracy.
2. Sarah Knauss — 119 Years, 97 Days (United States)
Sarah Knauss was born on September 24, 1880, in Hollywood, Pennsylvania, and died on December 30, 1999 — making her the oldest American in verified history and the second-oldest person ever. She was notably private, with her family describing her as “unflappable” — a woman who faced life’s challenges with remarkable equanimity. At 119 she was still watching sporting events on television and crocheting, maintaining both mental alertness and physical engagement at an age that remains extraordinary. When asked the secret to her longevity, her family pointed to a calm personality and the absence of excessive worry.
3. Nabi Tajima — 117 Years, 260 Days (Japan)
Nabi Tajima, born on August 4, 1900, in Kikai, Kagoshima, Japan, died on April 21, 2018 — having lived to see an entirely new century and surviving to an age verified by some of the world’s most rigorous supercentenarian documentation practices. Japan, which maintains exceptional national record-keeping, confirmed Tajima’s age through multiple documentary sources. She was the mother of nine children, grandmother to dozens of grandchildren, and great-great-grandmother to many more. Tajima became the world’s oldest confirmed person after the death of Emma Morano in April 2017.
4. Emma Morano — 117 Years, 137 Days (Italy)
Emma Morano, born on November 29, 1899, died on April 15, 2017, achieving the remarkable distinction of being the last known living person born in the 19th century. Born in Civiasco, Vercelli, Italy, Morano attributed her extraordinary longevity to a daily diet of three raw eggs — two of which she consumed raw — a habit maintained for most of her adult life. She also credited leaving an unhappy marriage in 1938 and spending the subsequent decades living independently on her own terms. Morano’s life spanned three Italian centuries and seven Italian government forms, from the Kingdom of Italy through the Fascist period to the modern Italian Republic.
5. Violet Brown — 117 Years, 189 Days (Jamaica)
Violet Brown was born on March 10, 1900, in Duanvale, Trelawny, Jamaica, and died on September 15, 2017. She became the world’s oldest verified living person and the oldest Jamaican in recorded history following Emma Morano’s death. Her longevity was attributed by family members to a diet that included local vegetables, fish, and mutton, combined with deeply held Christian faith that provided her with purpose and equanimity throughout a long life. Brown was reportedly still attending church in her final years, maintaining social engagement until very late in her life.
6. Misao Okawa — 117 Years, 27 Days (Japan)
Misao Okawa was born on March 5, 1898, in Osaka, Japan, and died on April 1, 2015. She was recognised as the world’s oldest verified living person from 2013 until her death. Okawa survived her husband by 71 years, having lived through Japan’s transformation from a feudal society to a modern industrial nation and two world wars. When asked the secret to her long life at 116, she replied simply: “Eat and sleep and you will live a long time.” Her response became one of the most circulated longevity quotes in popular media.
7. Maria Gomes Valentim — 114 Years, 17 Days (Brazil)
Maria Gomes Valentim was born on July 9, 1896, and died on June 21, 2011, in Carangola, Minas Gerais, Brazil — the oldest Brazilian in verified history. Valentim’s life spanned the abolition of slavery in Brazil (1888), both World Wars, Brazil’s transformation from a monarchy to a republic, and the country’s extraordinary economic development across the 20th century. Her longevity was attributed by family members to her active lifestyle, which continued well into very advanced age, and to the close family network that kept her socially engaged throughout her long life.
8. Gertrude Weaver — 116 Years, 276 Days (United States)
Gertrude Weaver was born on July 4, 1898, in Leeville, Arkansas, and died on April 6, 2015 — a life spanning from the Reconstruction-era American South through the Civil Rights movement and into the 21st century. Weaver became the world’s oldest verified living person briefly in April 2015 following Misao Okawa’s death, but died just five days later. Her family attributed her exceptional longevity to a life of hard work and deep religious faith. She was the mother of four children and had outlived all of them — a testament to both her extraordinary resilience and the poignant reality of extreme longevity.
9. Susannah Mushatt Jones — 116 Years, 311 Days (United States)
Susannah Mushatt Jones was born on July 6, 1899, in Lowndes County, Alabama, and died on May 12, 2016. She was the last verified living person born in the 19th century at the time of Violet Brown’s recognition. Jones, born to sharecropper parents in the segregated American South, moved to New York City as part of the Great Migration and worked as a domestic worker for much of her adult life. She credited her longevity to sleeping at least ten hours per night and avoiding alcohol and smoking — a lifestyle discipline that she maintained consistently throughout her extraordinary life.
10. Emma Jackson — 116 Years, 108 Days (United States)
Emma Jackson was born on December 28, 1896, and died on April 15, 2013 — one of the United States’ verified supercentenarians documented by the Gerontology Research Group. Her life spanned the Gilded Age through the digital revolution, encompassing every major American historical transformation of the 20th century. Jackson’s longevity, confirmed through census records and birth documentation, places her among the select group of humans who have lived beyond 116 years — a threshold reached by fewer than twenty confirmed individuals in recorded history.
Conclusion
These extraordinary individuals collectively challenge our assumptions about the limits of human life. Most were women — a pattern consistently observed in supercentenarian research — and most attributed their longevity to a combination of genetics, lifestyle, temperament, and circumstance. What they share most deeply is a story of extraordinary human endurance across some of history’s most turbulent and transformative centuries.
Brandon is the cheif editor and writer at WorldUnfolds.com. With a passion for storytelling and a keen editorial eye, he crafts engaging content that captivates and enlightens readers worldwide.
