CLAIM: Photos show a man in Africa who is the world’s oldest person and has just celebrated his 146th birthday.
AP ASSESSMENT: False. The person in the photos in the social media posts is not a man named Mzee John Kiplagat from Kenya, as the posts claim. The the images date from 2016 and they represent Saparman Sodimejo, an Indonesian man who died at the supposed age of 146, according to the photographer who took the images. But Sodimejo’s true age has never been independently verified, and a Guinness Book of World Records spokesperson confirmed that neither Kiplagat nor Sodimejo have ever held their record for oldest living person or oldest living man.
THE FACTS: Social media users kicked off the New Year by sending birthday wishes to a man who was supposedly turning 146.
Many of the posts featured a collage of photos of a skinny old man in a blue shirt and dark shorts, as well as a birthday cake topped with number candles that made out “146.”
“The oldest man. Born in 1876, he completed 146 years on earth a few days ago. Meet Mzee John Kiplagat,” one Instagram user wrote in a post that has received more than 6,700 likes as of Thursday.
“Happy birthday Mzee,” wrote one Facebook user in a post including the photos that has received more than 116,000 likes or shares.
However, the photos are not of Kiplagat, but of Sodimejo, said Donal Husni, a Jakarta-based photographer who took the photos.
Husni confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that he took the images on December 31, 2016, when Sodimejo, who was also nicknamed Mbah Gotho, or “Gotho Grandpa,” marked what his family claimed was his 146 birthday. .
At that time, various international media reported on the celebrationheld in Sodimejo’s hometown in the Indonesian province of Central Java, and many used photos of Husni.
However, the joy was short-lived: just a few months later, Sodimejo’s health worsened, he was hospitalized and finally died at homeaccording to press reports at the time.
But if Sodimejo really lived to be 146 years old, it was a secret that he took to the grave. His Indonesian ID card showed his birthday as December 31, 1870, but independent experts were never able to verify his age as the country didn’t start keeping birth records until 1900, according to news reports at the time. .
“The probability of someone being 146 years old is infinitesimal and incredibly unlikely,” said John Adams, executive director of the Gerontology Research Group, which has been studying and verifying so-called “supercentenarians.” around the world, he wrote in an email. “They would have to present very strong supporting evidence.”
In fact, neither Sodimejo nor Kiplagat have ever held the title of longest-living person or longest-living person ever, Guinness World Records spokeswoman Kylie Galloway confirmed in an email.
lucile randonA 118-year-old Frenchwoman, she currently holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest living person, as well as the oldest living woman. Juan Vicente Perez Moraa 112-year-old Venezuelan, is considered by the London-based organization to be the oldest living man.
Juana Luisa Calment, a 122-year-old Frenchwoman who died in 1997, is recognized by Guinness as the oldest person and woman in history. Jiroemon KimuraA 116-year-old Japanese man who died in 2013, holds the title of the oldest man in history.
___
This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including working with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content circulating online. Learn more about fact checking at AP.
