'World's oldest man' celebrates 146th birthday and says patience is key for long life
Mbah Gotho, whose ID states he was born in the year 1870, celebrated the landmark occasion with his grandchildren after reportedly outliving his siblings, wives and children
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An Indonesian man who claims to be the oldest person ever to have lived has celebrated his 146th birthday.
Mbah Gotho, from a small village in the Central Java province, has documentation that states he was born on 31 December 1870, and the Indonesian records office has said confirmed this was accurate.
If it is correct, this would earn him the title of the oldest person ever, a title currently held by French centenarian Jeanne Calment, who was 122 when she died.
Mr Gotho celebrated the landmark birthday with his grandson, Suryanto, and his wife, Suwarni, having reportedly outlived all 10 of his siblings, his four wives and his children.
During the celebrations, family and neighbours flocked to the modest house to celebrate the occasion, and Mr Gotho was seen grinning as they sang him a birthday song.
The elderly Indonesian reportedly managed to blow out all the candles in one puff.
When previously asked the secret to a long life, Mr Gotho said: “The recipe is just patience”.
He is said to have begun preparing for his death in 1992, even having a gravestone made, but 24 years later he is still alive.
Mr Gotho has official documentation which shows his age, and the Indonesian records office says it has confirmed his birth date as December 31 1870.
However, the documents cannot be independently verified and Mr Gotho can not therefore go down in the record books.
His grandchildren said the pensioner spends most of his days listening to the radio because his eyesight is too poor to watch TV, according to reports.
There are a number of other people who also claim to have broken Jeanne Calment’s record, but whose ages have not been confirmed.
Nigerian James Olofintuyi has claimed to be 171, while Dhaqabo Ebba from Ethiopia has claimed to be 163, but without verifiable documents they cannot be given her title.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments