Guinness World Records can today confirm that Arturo Licata from Enna, Sicily, has been officially recognised as the world’s Oldest Living Man.
The Italian, born on 2 May 1902 was aged 111 years and 302 days as of 28 February 2014.
Senior Gerontology Consultant for Guinness World Records, Robert Young, verified the record and confirmed that Arturo Licata is currently the only male born before 1903 that has been able to provide proof of birth, midlife documentation, and identity. Birth registration papers, government and marriage records were all processed as evidence to confirm the new record.
The new Oldest Living Man, Arturo Licata, was born into a family of four brothers and two sisters in the city of Castrogiovanni (now Enna) in May 1902. At the age of 9 he went to work in the mines, and in 1921, aged 19, he joined the Italian army. Arturo’s military service finished in 1939 and he went on to enjoy a successful career in business. He has had seven children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
His wife Rosa, (pictured above with Arturo), sadly passed away in 1980, when Arturo was 78 years old. Arturo currently lives in his hometown of Enna, Sicily, Italy.
Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, said: “We are honoured to welcome into the Guinness World Records family a man who was born before Shackleton reached the end of his first trip to the South Pole, before the Wright brothers' first powered flight, and before Henry Ford sold his first Model T car.
"Signor Licata is the oldest of only three men alive today known to be over the age of 111 – compared with 65 women – so it’s a privilege to able to officially ratify him and include him in our book.”
The previous holder of the record title Salustiano Sanchez (USA) passed away on 13 September 2013, aged 112 years 97 days.
Currently 115-year-old female, Misao Okawa of Japan, is recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's Oldest Living Person overall. She was born March 5, 1898 and lives in Osaka.
The greatest fully authenticated age to which any human has ever lived is 122 years, 164 days by Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died in 1997.