Tuesday 22 August, 2000
Who Wants To Live Forever?
Recent developments in the human genome project have led to predicted increases in human life expectancy by as much as 25 years. If scientists are right then ailments, commonly associated with old age, could become a thing of the past, and living into our hundreds will become commonplace.
However all that remains in the future, in the present there are already many people who regularly make claims about their age. At the age of 116, one such candidate for the world's oldest man title is Melche- ZE-dech Sempiira, he recently met with the Outlook team and provided living proof that age is purely a state of mind.
Melche-ZE-dech Sempiira was born in a village in the Ugandan province of Buganda the century before last, 1884. He fought for the British in Tanzania in the World War I and later worked as a medical officer supplying milk to hospitals. In the first year of this new century, Sempiira is visiting London, where many of his considerable family live, and he plans to stay to see the Queen at the Remembrance Day parade in November.
Having recently celebrated the British Queen Mothers 100th birthday it is hard to imagine that anyone can have lived so long that they could make her seem young and girlish. However at 116 years old, Sempiira was already a young man when the Queen Mother, as she was to become, was merely a glint in her parent’s eyes and he now thanks god that he was able to witness her centenary.
Memories of World War I
When World War I broke out Sempiira was already 30 years old. He was selected to fight in the second wave of troops and recalls being impressed by the soldiers’ smart appearance. The two World Wars had a tremendous impact on him and today he often exercises, using the army drill as his work out routine. Despite fond memories of his time in the army he is quick to establish that the war was, ‘no joke. It was really tough fighting’.
When he returned from the war, he married. Having come from an enormous family of 24 children himself, it is unsurprising to learn that Sempiira soon had six children and following the death of his first wife, he went on to remarry and father a further ten children. With 16 children, 80 grand children and more than 100 great grandchildren, today Sempiira remains happily married to his second wife who is just 74 years old and therefore a relatively young woman. Of his wife and children he comments:
‘My wife is wonderful and very obedient. Six of my children have now passed away. By the time the first one died he was 76, my eldest child is now 58 years old.’
Changes
Having lived through some remarkable developments, Sempiira recalls the key points in history to be both World Wars and man landing on the moon. He is fascinated with space and sees air travel as one of the greatest achievements in the world. He comments:
‘During World War I, there weren’t many planes, only the Dutch people flew and we were told to take cover and hide from them. I loved the aeroplane that flew me from Kampala to England. This was my first time to get into that fearful thing called an aeroplane. I greatly admire that I could be here in just one day.’
| The key things that have kept me fit until this age are that I do not smoke, I do not drink and I am not a womaniser | |
Secret of longevity
If you could bottle whatever it is that makes Sempiira so young in appearance and outlook it would sell for millions. However the definitive secret of long life remains elusive.
Other elders have made dietary claims. Elizabeth Israel, a contender for the world's oldest woman title, is currently 125 years old. She attributes her longevity to a diet of fresh fish and coconut milk. Meanwhile 114 year old Eva Morris, who holds the current Guinness Book of Records title, attributes her long life to work, exercise and a daily diet of boiled onions and a tot of whisky with her tea.
So what does Sempiira believe has kept him alive and so alert? He comments:
‘I really hate smoking, boozing and homosexual activity. The key things that have kept me fit until this age are that I do not smoke, I do not drink and I am not a womaniser.’ |
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| Long Lives |
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Whilst there are many claims to old age, it is necessary to verify dates of birth to win a place in the record books. Documents such as a birth certificate, official records or a census entry are required.
In 1997 the world’s oldest woman Jeanne Calment died at the age of 122 of natural causes. Having given up smoking at the age of 120, Calment’s doctor claimed that her quitting was more through her vanity of not being able to light her own cigarettes due to failing eyesight, than any other health reasons. She had lived a full life and even released a rap record at the age of 121.
More recent claims to the title include Elizabeth Israel, who at the age of 125 resides in the West Indian Island of Dominica. Church records indicate that she was baptised three days after her birth in 1875. She gave up smoking a pipe when she was in her 90s and was still working in the fields at the age of 104.
Harry Halford of Leicester, UK, holds the title of Britain’s oldest man and although there have been many claims to the world title, Halford is so far the only person to provide documentary evidence of his age. He was born in 1891 in the same year that Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was performing in the city.
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