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Is Maria da Silva 125? |
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Oldest Living Woman Challenge Fades Away
Claims Brazilian is 125 never verified by world
authorities
July 17, 2005 - Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper, who
turned 115 years old on June 29, is holding on to her title as the
world’s oldest living woman, despite challenges that emerged earlier
this year claiming a Brazilian woman, Maria Olivia da Silva of São
Paulo, turned 125 in February. The story was reported by the Associated
Press, but neither the Gerontology Research Group nor the Guinness World
Records have verified the claim.
Guinness still lists Van Andel-Schipper, who lives
in a nursing home in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, as the oldest woman. She
was born June 29, 1890 and took the title at the age of 113 on May 29,
2004.
On March 3, 2005; AP writer Stan Lehman reported
claims by Iolete Cadari, Administrative Director of
RankBrasil , Brazil's equivalent of the Guinness World Records, that
da Silva was “definitely the oldest living woman in Brazil and possibly
the entire world.” She said Da Silva's Birth Certificate shows that she
was born February 28, 1880 in the city of Itapetininga, São Paulo State.
The claim sparked immediate investigations by at
least two organizations recognized as authorities on such matters. The
Gerontology Research Group, which is primarily known for its records on
supercentenarians (those 100+), has never verified the claim.
Senior Claims Investigator for GRG, Robert Young of
Atlanta, Georgia, wrote on the organization’s Website:
“Let us consider for just a moment that this woman
was alleged to have been born on February 28, 1880...
“Firstly, if that were true, she would have been
the ‘world's oldest person’ since 1997. Why didn't she apply for
recognition then? How old were you in 1997? Think about it.
“Secondly, this woman is said to have a 58-year-old
‘adopted’ son. Even if adopted at birth, that would have made her 67
years old at the time -- Compare that to fully-validated
Supercentenarians:
Bettie Wilson, who is 114, has a 95-year-old son;
Florence Van Stockum, age 110, has an 88-year-old son;
Grace Thaxton, age 113, has an 89-year-old son.
“Note that this woman has been living ‘in a shack.’
“Furthermore, the documents exhibited, so far, were
NOT issued in the year 1880. But, if the family can produce some real
proof -- as opposed to merely saying "We have proof." -- we would be
very interested in seeing this ‘proof’!
“Fewer than 1,000 persons have reached 110 (98
percent are dead by 115, while 99 percent are dead by 116).
“Consider the chance that anyone could live from
age 115 to age 125. This would on the order of 1 in 1,000, i.e., the
same probability as getting ten consecutive "Heads" when flipping a fair
coin. The GRG has recorded only 17 documented individuals as having
reached age 115 (and five of these are doubtful). Therefore, this
Brazilian case has to be treated as extremely dubious. The older the
claimed age, the more rigorous the standard to which it must be held, or
as the late Dr. Carl Sagan used to say, ‘Extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence.’”
The GRG reported receiving an email from Laura
McTurk, a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records in London saying that
"the organization was researching its records for any information on da
Silva." As of today, there is no news release on the Guinness site
pertaining to the matter, and they have not changed the record.
GRG also reported they tried to make contact with
the AP reporter but did not receive a response.
Stan Primmer, a long-time member of the GRG and a
Co-Founder of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation (SRF), wrote:
“The document pictured (birth certificate) here
appears to have been prepared in the year 2000 or 2001. I have now read
nearly all of the stories about her on Brazilian websites. When she
lived in Centenario do Sul in the 1960's, her house burned down and she
lost everything, including her documentation according to her Stepson.
Later, she had trouble getting her pension which her Stepson was able to
resolve. I suspect that he obtained new documentation for her so that
she could receive her pension, and this may have been the origin of her
current documents that have been represented as her original Birth
Certificate. Therefore, it appears that the oldest documentation of her
age may have been created in the 1970's.”
Oldest Woman Ever
The oldest fully authenticated age to which any human has ever lived is
122 years and 164 days, by Jeanne-Louise Calment. She was born in France
on February 21, 1875, and died at a nursing home in Arles, southern
France on August 4, 1997. See the Guinness World Record report –
click here.
For the Gerontology Research Group –
click here.
For the Guinness World Record on the oldest woman –
click here.
For information about Supercentenarians at
Wikipedia, free encyclopedia,
click here.
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