111 years old
“Pure luck”: This Englishman is now the oldest man in the world
At 111 years old, John Alfred Tinniswood is currently the oldest man in the world
© Screenshot / Guinness World Records
Briton John Alfred Tinniswood is the oldest man in the world. The fact that he is 111 years old is “pure luck” for him. The Guinness World Record should have gone to a Japanese man who recently died suddenly.
“You live long or you live short, there’s not much you can do about it.” This is how unimpressed John Alfred Tinniswood reacted to his world record. According to Guinness World Records, he is now the oldest man in the world.
Tinniswood calls it “pure luck” that he has already reached 111 years old. He doesn’t have a secret, but instead of steak and fries, he eats “fish’n’chips,” he says in an interview with Guinness World Records. And if you drink too much, eat too much, walk too much, or do too much of anything, you will eventually suffer, he is sure.
Tinniswood survived two world wars and is the oldest English veteran of the Second World War. He was married to his wife for 44 years. She died in 1986.
John Alfred Tinniswood unimpressed by record: “It makes no difference”
Tinniswood lives in a retirement home in Liverpool, England, where he was born. He is a great-grandfather and, according to the carers, is still quite fit. He gets out of bed alone, listens to the news every day and manages his own finances. And he is a real “chatterbox,” as quoted by Guinness World Records. Except when it comes to the title of oldest man. The 111-year-old simply says: “It doesn’t make any difference.”
The oldest woman in the world is definitely older than Tinniswood: Maria Branyas Morera, who recently celebrated her 117th birthday in Spain. The oldest man to ever live was Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who lived to 116 and died in 2013.
Oldest man in the world (114) died a few days ago
And just a few days ago, the Guinness World Records announced that the oldest man in the world had died at the age of 114, record holder Juan Vicente Pérez from Venezuela.
Now a man from Japan (112) should actually have won the title. But Gisaburo Sonobe also died recently.
And so the title went to John Alfred Tinniswood. The 111-year-old does have one tip for the younger generations when it comes to a happy, long life: “Always do your best,” he advises. “Whether you’re learning something or teaching someone, always give it everything you’ve got.” Otherwise it wouldn’t even be worth the effort.
Sources: The Gaurdian, Guinness World Records, RTL