Zaro Agha, The legendary Kurdish supercentenarian (2024)

FAQs

Was Zaro Aga a real person? ›

Zaro Aga (Turkish: Zaro Ağa; Kurdish: زارۆ ئاغا, romanized: Zaro Axa) was a Kurdish man who claimed to be one of the longest-living persons ever. He claimed birth on 16 February 1764 in Mutki, and died on 29 June 1934 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Zaro Agha enjoyed extreme popularity while was alive. He was born in 1774, according to population registers, and died on June 30, 1934 (Figure 1). He died at the age of 157 years, and is claimed to be one of the longest-living humans ever [3, 4].

The oldest living documented person in the world is American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who currently resides in Spain. As of Feb. 28, Branyas Morera is 116 years and 361 days old and officially became the world's oldest living person in January 2023.

The oldest known living person is Maria Branyas of Spain (born in the USA), aged 117 years, 54 days. The oldest known living man is John Tinniswood of the United Kingdom, aged 111 years, 245 days. The 100 oldest women have, on average, lived several years longer than the 100 oldest men.

Zaro Aga came to Constantinople (Istanbul) at the age of 17 and began to work as “hammal”; load carriers and porters for a hundred years (!) He got a son when he was 90 years old. He married 12 times and had 28 children. Among his 28 children, only his 80-year-old daughter survived him.

Saparman Sodimejo, popularly known as Mbah Gotho, was an Indonesian man who gained attention for his claim of having lived over 140 years. Although there is no conclusive evidence to verify his exact age, The Indonesian Government reportedly recognised him as one of the oldest individuals based on an issued ID card.

Outside of mythology, the record for the maximum verified lifespan in the modern world is 1221⁄2 years for women (Jeanne Calment) and 116 years for men (Jiroemon Kimura). Some scientists estimate that in case of the most ideal conditions people can live up to 127 years.

The oldest known age ever attained was by Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who died in 1997 at the age of 122. Ms. Calment is also the only documented case of a person living past 120, which many scientists had pegged as the upper limit of the human lifespan.

According to Guinness World Records, the oldest father who has the documentation to prove it was Australian Les Colley, who in 1991 fathered a son with his third wife when he was 92. Here are some other notable men who had their mojos working well into their golden years.

This is a list of the last known verified people born in the 1800's. The last known living person born in the 1800's was Italian woman Emma Morano-Martinuzzi.

Who is the oldest person ever in history? ›

Jeanne Calment, a French woman, achieved an incredible feat of living to age 122, thus earning the honor of being the world's oldest person on record.

Mbah Gotho from Indonesia is 145 years old. An official document says he was born on December 31, 1870. He has outlived his four wives, 10 siblings and all his children.

A theoretical study suggested the maximum human lifespan to be around 125 years using a modified stretched exponential function for human survival curves. In another study, researchers claimed that there exists a maximum lifespan for humans, and that the human maximal lifespan has been declining since the 1990s.