Benito Martínez Abrogán (June 19, 1880 or 1905 or 1911 - October 11, 2006) was a native of Cuba who claimed to be the world's oldest living person. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la He claimed to have been born on June 19, 1880, near Cavaellon, Haiti; however, he had no documents to verify this and was thus never an officially eligible candidate for this record. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Cavaellon (or Cavaillon, Creole: Kavayon) is a rural town located in the Sud Department of Haiti. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: ^[1] The Cuban government sent officials to Haiti to investigate, but found nothing to either prove or disprove the claim. Cuban government medical experts attested that he was at least 119 years old at the time of his death, but the reasons for this determination were never presented. ^{[2] [3]}

Early life

Martínez has papers proving he came to Cuba via steamship in the 1920s, but his age at the time was not recorded. A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller ^[4] Initially he found employment on the family ranch of Cuban president Fidel Castro. A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13 1926 is a Cuban revolutionary leader who was prime minister of Cuba from December 1959 to December 1976 and then president until He was nicknamed, “El Avión” (the aeroplane), for the speed at which he worked as he helped to construct the original highway across Cuba. A nickname is a Name of an entity or thing that is not its Proper name. ^[1] He later settled in a small farming community outside Ciego de Avila, where he lived out his days as a perpetual bachelor. Ciego de Ávila is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. A bachelor is a man above the Age of majority who has never been married (see single) He attributed his longevity to a healthy diet of rice and fresh vegetables and the occasional alcoholic beverage. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Mr. Martínez also said the secret to his long life was that, "he had never cheated a man or said bad things of other people. "^[4]

Personal life

He never owned a car. He always walked, rode a bike or took the bus. Hobbies included breeding fighting cocks, growing bananas and dancing. He rarely over ate as food was rationed. Calorie restriction, or caloric restriction (CR aims to improve health and slow the aging process by limiting dietary energy intake Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services He ate mostly starchy cassava and sweet potatoes cooked in pork fat. The cassava, yuca, manioc, or mandioca ( Manihot esculenta) is a woody Shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family native The sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas) is a Dicotyledonous plant which belongs to the family Convolvulaceae Lard is pig Fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a Cooking fat or Shortening Only in the last twenty years of his life did he give up smoking. Tobacco Smoking is the inhalation of smoke from burned dried or cured leaves of the Tobacco plant most often in the form of a Cigarette. His first doctor's visit was not until he was around 115. The only time he went to the hospital was a few days before he died. ^[3]

Controversy

No actual record exists of either his birth or his life prior to his immigration to Cuba, making him ineligible for consideration for the title of oldest living person, by the Guinness Book of World Records, held at the time of his death by Elizabeth Bolden, an African-American woman aged 116. The longest unambiguously documented lifespan of a person is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997 who died aged 122 years and 164 days Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records (and in previous U Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jones Bolden ( August 15, 1890 &ndash December 11, 2006) was an African American woman who at the time African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Nonetheless, Abrogan maintained his claim until his death, and in his later years was the star attraction of the country's recently formed 120-Club, an organization promoting healthy lives for Cuba's senior citizens. ^{[1] [3]}

A Spanish age verification expert noted that Benito Martínez Abrogan claimed to have been born on a Monday, but that June 19, 1880 (his alleged birthdate) did not fall on a Monday. Of considerable further concern were the complete absence of documentation of Abrogan's age and his inability to remember any specific details of his life before he moved to Cuba in 1925. Other experts have testified that if Abrogan was in fact born on Monday, June 19, then he was likely born in either or 1905 or 1911 (years in which this date fell on a Monday), which would have made him either 101 or 95 years old, respectively, at the time of his death.

See also

• Emiliano Mercado del Toro
• Longevity
• Longevity claims
• Caloric restriction

References