It is in Indonesia, on the island of Java, that Mbah Gotho is found, the one who could well be our new dean of all. Indeed, the man and the Indonesian census bureau date his birth to the end of December 1870, which would make him the new dean of humanity.
To date, the title of dean of humanity returned to Jeanne Calment, this Frenchwoman born on February 21, 1875 and died on August 4, 1997 at the age of 122 years. But the lady is about to be dethroned, many years more, since a man named Mbah Gotho, an Indonesian, claims to have been born on December 31, 1870 on the Indonesian island of Java. He would thus be 145 years old.
A situation that does not seem to please the old man, almost blind, and whose only pleasures are listening to the radio and smoking his cigarette on his terrace. » what i want is to die he explains, weakened. His longevity, he owes it to » patience as explained by the man who has already buried his four different wives, children and ten brothers and sisters.
His identity card does show a date of birth of December 31, 1870, a date that is confirmed by the Indonesian census bureau. But according to the British daily The Independent, it remains impossible to date to ensure that the date indicated by the Indonesian authorities is true, and as long as doubts persist about the authenticity of his identity card, the title of « dean of humanity » cannot be returned to him. That said, as we understand, the old man doesn’t really care.
To date, the dean of humanity « still alive » and officially recognized by the civil status services is an Italian by the name of Emma Morano. The lady was born on November 29, 1899 and is thus 116 years old.