World's oldest man dies at age of 112
- September 15, 2013, 2:56 pm
- World News
- 122 Views
GRAND ISLAND, US Sept 15 (INP): Salustiano Sanchez-Blazquez, the world's oldest man, a 112-year-old self-taught musician, coal miner and gin rummy aficionado from western New York has died.
According to Robert Young, senior gerontology consultant with Guinness World Records, Salustiano Sanchez-Blazquez died at a nursing home in Grand Island.
Sanchez-Blazquez became the world's oldest man when Jiroemon Kimura died June 12 at age 116.
Born June 8, 1901, in the village of El Tejado de Bejar, Spain, he was known for his talent on the dulzaina, a double-reed wind instrument that he taught himself and played at weddings and village celebrations. At 17, he moved with his older brother Pedro and a group of friends to Cuba, where they worked in the cane fields.
In 1920, he came to the United States through Ellis Island and worked in the coal mines of Lynch, Kentucky. Ultimately, he moved to the Niagara Falls area of New York, where he worked in construction and in the industrial furnaces. He married to Pearl, in 1934.
Sanchez-Blazquez had said his longevity was attributed to eating one banana per day and his daily dose of six Anacin tablets. His daughter had another theory.
‘I think it's just because he's an independent, stubborn man,’ she said.
Besides his daughter, Sanchez-Blazquez had a 76-year-old son, John, seven grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
The oldest authenticated person was Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
