Wikipedia

Ryoung122

Joined 17 February 2005


This user is a citizen of the United States of America.
This user is a skeptic.
13,000+This user has made more than 13,000 contributions to Wikipedia.
This user believes that articles are useless without images.
GSUThis user attends or attended Georgia State University.
This user has published peer-reviewed articles in academic journals.
MAGAZINEThis user has had their work published in a magazine.
WOPThis user is a member of WikiProject World's Oldest People.
This user is interested in
Botany.
This user is interested in Genealogy and has published their family tree online.
This user has been on Wikipedia for 19 years, 9 months and 15 days.
This user is of French ancestry.
This user enjoys singing.





File:N22620671 33776132 6083.jpg

Born May 2, 1974, I have already made a small impact on this world in many small ways. I am currently the Senior Gerontology Consultant for Guinness World Records (since 2005, and a junior consultant since 2000) and the senior claims investigator for the Gerontology Research Group (www.grg.org)(since 1999). I also run the web group "World's Oldest People" at Yahoo groups (founded 2002). I work part-time for several organizations, including the New England Supercentenarian Study at Boston University, the Social Security Administration, the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University, and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. I am a founding member of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation, and I have been featured in hundreds of newspapers, including "The Wall Street Journal," "Tokyo Times," and "The New York Times". I have worked on several books, the first of which, the "Wisdom of the World's Oldest People," was out in bookstores in Oct 2005. I also worked on "Living in Three Centuries" by Mark Story (2006) and have a third book due for publication in 2008. I have been cited in scientific journals, including "The Gerontologist" and "Rejuvenation Research". I hold a certificate of gerontology from Georgia State University (2006) and a Master of Gerontology (2008) from Georgia State University. I have been featured in magazines including Science Magazine (Sept 26 2008 issue) and the Futurist Magazine (Nov 2008 issue). On November 22, 2008 I won the ESPO award for best interdiscplinary paper by a graduate student in gerontology, 2008...a national honor given to only one person a year. Truly my dreams are coming true.

I am also an editor at www.emporis.com, which is the #1 web resource for high-rise buildings.[citation needed] I have contributed to the Guinness Book of Records (including the 1987, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 editions). I also contributed to the "World Almanac 2004".

I am also an historian. I hold three degrees in history, an Associate of Arts in History (honors) from Georgia Perimeter College (2004), a Bachelor of Arts in History (summa cum laude) from Georgia State University (2006), and a Master of Arts in History (world history concentration) from Georgia State University (2011). I believe that Wikipedia, while not the place for 'original' research, can move the 'chains of progress' forward (a reference to first downs in football). For some articles, such as William Potts and Myrtle McAteer, I have employed my genealogical skills to locate birthdates for long-forgotten persons who are suddenly notable again, as their once-unrecognized contributions have now come to light. Thus, I am melding gerontology, history, genealogy, and the frontier of Wikipedia to further the collective knowledge of humanity.

I have worked with a number of top names in the field of gerontology, including Stephen Coles, James Vaupel, Jean-Marie Robine, Greg Fahy, and Louis Epstein (supercentenarian tracker). I have met others such as S. Jay Olshanksy, Aubrey de Grey, and K. Warner Schaie and have been in e-mailed conversations with even the great Leonard Hayflick. My goal was and has been not simply to debunk the optimistics, but also the skeptics. True, a reaction to extreme/false age claims is to go the other way. But claims by skeptics that the 'maximum human life span' was '103' (in 1898), '107' (in 1951), or '110' (in 1981) have each fallen short of reality. My research has shown that people are consistently living to ages previously thought impossible. In 1951, for example, it was said the 'maximum human life span' was 107; had the mathematicians bothered to do any research, they would have known that humans already exceeded that age in the 1830's). Each prediction of a 'maximum' turned out to be wrong. Now, however, we have finally arrived at where I advocated: "let the theory fit the data, not the other way around." Recent efforts in the last decade have finally dispelled the notion of an 'exponential' death rate and recognized that, starting around age 97, the death rate begins to slow from an exponential prediction. Still unresolved, however, is how high the observed maximums will reach.

I also invented the idea of tracking 'maximum verified age by year of birth'. An analysis I did in 2002

[PDF] Workshop on Supercentenarians, May 8 2002 Atlanta, GeorgiaFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML May 8, 2002 at the Hilton Atlanta, Georgia, USA ... 9:45 a.m. --- Robert Young: “Problems with Supercentenarian Theory: How More Data ... www.demografie.de/calendar/files/15716.951751709-Workshop%20Program.pdf - Similar pages

Debunked the old idea that increases in observed life span was 'static' since Roman times and only began to take off with the Industrial Revolution. This idea, posited for over a century but not actually studied, was incorrect. For Europe, at least, a steady and almost constant increase in observed life span took place over a 700-year period (1250 to present). This accorded with Dr. James Vaupel's idea that observed life span increased and has been increasing almost constantly. Though Vaupel favors his ideas in mathematical terms, I would say that what it shows is that life span increase occurs due to the sum-total of the collective efforts of many interventions (also called 'progress').

In regards to 'supercentenarians,' we found a period of rapid increase in gains (1980-1999) but since 2000, there has been a levelling off in maximum ages, even as the total numbers increase. This accords with Dr. Coles's push of the idea of rectangularization of the mortality curve or that even as more people reach age 110, the result will be a higher death rate at age 110 instead of massive increases at 115 and above. This is postulated to result because those reaching 110 today are more frail, on average, because they were able to survive to an age that they would previously not been able to reach (due to modern medicine).

Yet Vaupel's optimistic observation that, since persons today aged 80 are in better health than 80-year-olds thirty years ago, we should see a translation of this into not simply a greater quantity of supercentenarians, but possibly a rising of the age maximums.

In 1999, British demographer Sir Roger Thatcher postulated that by the year 2070, the national record for the UK would rise from 115 to 123. Yet predicting that England would pass France might be a bit of a national-pride thing.

My ultimate goal is to further the education of the planet, through both small, incremental improvements as well as bold new ideas. Stay tuned for more!

Wiki-philosophy

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My Wiki-contributions (see below) follow my Wiki-Philosophies, which include:

Wikilinking/expanding through redlinks Rather than simply make up any article that comes to mind, I make an article when I come across a link I want to know more about, or that I know more about, but for which no additional information is available.

I favor history and scholarship over business acumen I believe that ideas are more important, ultimately, than money. The Hurricane Katrina disaster 'relief' shows that simply throwing $100 million around isn't the answer; you have to know how to manage it. Thus the need for both theory and application

A general should lead his troops into battle. I'm a firm believer that no one should be a general (or president) without having first served as a private in the army. One has to know how things work from the ground level, in order to manage effectively from the top. Note also that many of the best generals succeeded because their men respected them, and that because they set an example that they lived. "Do as I say, not as I do" is a big NO for me.

Not everything deserves an article. Articles of the extreme ordinary...a local school, a local football team, a road, etc....are a waste of space. Yet, sadly, we see gobs of gratuitous junk, especially on TV shows, entertainment, sports, and the local.

I am an academic inclusionist. I find it appalling that Wikipedia, while having articles on Keeley Dorsey, doesn't have articles on deceleration or other academic ideas. True, you can learn it in the classroom. But is Wikipedia an 'encyclopedia' or is it just a fun place for kids?

I am an exclusionist when it comes to fictious TV characters from minor shows, lists of airport takeoffs and landings, and minor college football players and high schools being touted as 'notable.'

I am an inclusionist for cities/towns Even small towns have a history, a place on the map...and the potential to one day grow a lot larger.

Wikipedia, despite its flaws, is still superior to newspapers

The news LOVE to claim that Wikipedia is 'unreliable'...but they constantly ignore the fact that Wikipedia can be corrected at a moment's notice, while major news gaffes are often ignored (for example, many supercentenarians have died months ago but show up in news articles as if they were still alive)> Unless, of course, they erroneously claim that Bob Hope died. Then they'll have to fess up.

I believe in incrementalist expansion, or, Rome wasn't built in a day.

An article can be started as a stub. Creativity and new ideas and effort come and go. Moreover, just as Rome's buildup was gradual, multifactorial, and in many ways (population increase, construction, social standing, etc), so we can't expect Wikipedia or an individual article that was just started to be anywhere near complete. But I do leave clues for future expansion.

Wiki-Awards

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You deserve it

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  The Original Barnstar
Despite encountering disagreements time and again here, you still continue to contribute tirelessly to Wikipedia, as well as clearing up doubts and misconceptions with other Wikipedians about supercentenarian-related facts. I doubt any of the supercentenarian articles on Wikipedia would ever have gotten as far as they have without your contributions.

Wikipedia's supercentenarian articles would never have survived as long as they have without people like you.

Well done, Ryoung122. BrendanologyContriB 03:53, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank You Robert

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  The Original Barnstar
Robert, you have been so supportive to me and been there for all of the Supercentenarian researchers and the fans. You have kept a look out for everyone here at wikipedia and have done a great job. Keep up the good work. Plyjacks (talk) 03:02, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

You earned it

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  Home-Made Barnstar
This barnstar goes to you Robert for all the hard work you do to make wikpedia and supercentenarians better. You have been through a lot of diffcult things on wikipedia, the 110 club and and the yahoo WOP group. I have seen many difficult and stressful things go on with the groups but I've never seen anyone handle it as well as you. I gave you a barnstar last year and this year I thought you should get another one because I've never seen someone handle things like you have and do it very well. For all you do you deserve another one. Plyjacks (talk) 04:08, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Wikicontributions

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http://tools.wikimedia.de/~river/cgi-bin/count_edits (as of Nov 10 2007)


  • Ryoung122
  • Username Ryoung122
  • Total edits 7208
  • Image uploads 9 (9 cur, 0 old)
  • Distinct pages edited 1163
  • Edits/page (avg) 6.20
  • Deleted edits 107 (browse)
  • First edit 2005-02-17 21:39:17
  • Edits by namespace Namespace Edits
  • Articles 4600
  • Talk 1369
  • User 188
  • User talk 556
  • Project 336
  • Project talk 38
  • Image 17
  • Image talk 5
  • Template 52
  • Template talk 7
  • Category 27
  • Category talk 13



Although I only adopted the current identity "Ryoung122" in Feb 2005, I have edited articles in Wikipedia for several years prior. I have contributed heavily to the supercentenarian and associated articles, and started several. While this remains my first area of focus, my interests are not limited to this, and I have on occasion contributed to a plethora of articles over a great many topics. My first goal is to further the "education" of the world, and correcting errors is something I do quite a bit.

Edit Counts

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Edit count Edit made to page Reached on
1000 June 18, 2006
2,000 Nov 27, 2006
3,000 Mar 30, 2007
4,000 July 8, 2007
5,000 July 31, 2007
6,000 Sept 24, 2007
7,000 Nov 6, 2007
8,000 Leonid Stadnyk Oct 7, 2008
9,000 Stone Mountain Jan 31, 2009
10,000 Oldest people July 5, 2009
11,000 Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War Mar 7, 2010
12,000 List of Living Supercentenarians Sept 27, 2010
13,000 Milton, Florida Dec 19, 2011

Edit count ranking

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I don't plan on making more edits than I want to make. I do like to measure whether I'm a Wiki-holic, or not. Right now, it looks like a daily activity but not something that I am obsessed with.

Latest list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_Wikipedians_by_number_of_edits

Date Edits Change in Edit Count Ranking Ranking Change
September 12, 2007 5892 N.A. 3194 initial listing (my first time in the top edit counts list)
December 22, 2007 7377 +1,485 2862 +332
January 20, 2008 7377 0 2979 -117
September 16, 2008 7772 +395 3625 -646
November 20, 2008 8182 +410 3592 +33
February 25, 2009 9213 +1031 3442 +150
June 10, 2009 9922 +709 3415 +27
July 1, 2009 9950 +28 3453 -38
Oct 14, 2009 10378 +428 3498 -45
Feb 24, 2010 10899 +521 3551 -53
June 30, 2010 11567 +668 3541 +10
Sept 29, 2010 12012 +445 3533 +8
Jan. 5, 2011 12283 +271 3587 -54
Mar. 2, 2011 12455 +172 3624 -37
May 18, 2011 12530 +75 3714 -90
June 29, 2011 12557 +27 3764 -50
August 3, 2011 12616 +59 3784 -20
Oct 12, 2011 12760 +144 3837 -53
Dec 28, 2011 13025 +265 3847 -10
Jan 25, 2012 13129 +104 3846 +1
Mar 16, 2012 13282 +153 3860 -14
May 23, 2012 13367 +85 3919 -59
July 31, 2012 13498 +131 3964 -45
Feb 10, 2018 13592 +94 6044 -2080
June 21, 2018 13693 +101 6153 -109

I had peaked at around 2800th-most-active editor in 2007. I don't expect to be as productive as in the past, but rather to serve as a technical advisor in areas of longevity records.

Regards Moderator

Articles I've started (since Nov 20 2005)

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Article success rate as of Nov 1 2007: 73/76 (96%). Since one was added to Wiktionary, arguably 74/77 of articles started on Wikipedia still exist. This suggests that I don't consider starting an article lightly.

Note that in November 2007, a campaign was waged to reduce the number of supercentenarian articles on Wikipedia. As many of these articles were supported by newspaper mentions, which links often disappear and are archived, if at all, to pay-only websites, some of the articles below were deleted despite surviving, in some cases, over two years. The claim that any of them was "original research" was a false accusation, as every article could definitely be referenced properly.

References

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http://www.demogr.mpg.de/calendar/files/23312.3112487793-Workshop%20Program.pdf

http://www.grg.org/Adams/E.HTM

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/ed/?id=101302

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/368496.html

http://www.supercentenarian-research-foundation.org/organizers.htm

In search of the elders Man travels around the world looking for people 110 and older

Korky Vann, The Hartford Courant Call Jerry Friedman a "senior" sleuth. For the past five years, the Kent, Conn., resident has circled the globe in search of the world's oldest citizens, talking to individuals 110 and older. Traveling throughout Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Japan, Mongolia and Spain, as well as cities and towns across the United States, Friedman has met, interviewed and photographed 50 "extreme" elders, ranging from a former cotton-picker in rural Georgia to a Tibetan lama in Mongolia. The results of his unique journey are reported in Friedman's new book, "Earth's Elders: The Wisdom of the World's Oldest People." The book provides a window into the lives of "human time capsules," who have reached the outer edges of longevity. Their experiences -- the torching of the all-black town of Rosewood, Fla.; the atom-bomb attack on Hiroshima; the fall of the last Chinese Dynasty; the assassination of President McKinley and new inventions such as the washing machine or the automobile -- give new meaning to the term "living history."

Friedman, an award-winning television and advertising photographer, says his project was inspired by his mother, a 92-year-old nursing home resident.

"I went to my mother's long-term-care facility and 'embedded' myself for four days to see firsthand what my mother was experiencing," Friedman says. "It was like drawing back a curtain on a hidden society, and the reality was shocking. What I found was a group of well-cared-for people who were isolated in an elder ghetto. Here were people with extraordinary history and knowledge, but they didn't go out, and for the most part, the world didn't come in. I wanted to learn more about this invisible population."

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Enlarge Font Decrease Font More Lifestyles Market savvy, message saved A perfect 'Potter' for ESPN fans Gifts that say 'Please change' Live from the mall ... Love a parade? This is your season Phoenix, as Cash, walks a fine line

Spurred by curiosity, Friedman began to research supercentenarians, the oldest of the old, and discovered John McMorran, born in 1889, living in a nursing facility in Lakeland, Fla., and Ann Smith, born in 1891, living in a retirement home in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. After interviewing the elders and their families, Friedman was hooked. He tapped his savings to finance his travels and set out to document the untold stories of individuals whose lives span more than a century. Friedman was assisted in his discoveries by gerontology expert Robert Young of the Gerontology Research Group, who verified the records of the people documented in the book. Young, who validates records for the Guinness Book of World Records, says his group recognizes 65 living individuals ages 110 and older, 58 women and seven men. Friedman thinks there are hundreds more and continues to seek them. So far, he's met and photographed 60 individuals.

Category: Supercentenarian trackers

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[Show more]

Category:Supercentenarian trackers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This category is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's category deletion policy. This does not mean that any of the articles in the category will be deleted. They may, however, be recategorized. Please share your thoughts on the matter at this category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Please do not empty the category or remove this notice while the discussion is in progress. add entry

Category:Supercentenarian trackers

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Category:Supercentenarian trackers (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)
Nominator's rationale: Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. Ryoung122 02:08, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Persons have been noted for tracking 'supercentenarians' (those aged 110+) for hundreds of years; some included quite famous persons noted in other fields. What was once a hobby in the Middle Ages became a more scientific endeavor in the 1870's with William Thoms. Alexander Graham Bell dabbled in the field, among his many other pursuits. While long a back-burner field, noted names such as "Young and Bowerman" in the 1930's continued. The advent of the Guinness Book of World Records brought the tradition worldwide recognition. By the 1960's, some governments began tracking 'centenarians' as well as the 'oldest person' in the country (for example, Japan started in 1963; the UK in 1966). Today, many European nations, from Germany to the Netherlands, track 'supercentenarians'. However, even some Western nations have lagged: major efforts in the USA only started in the last decade, and other federalized states such as France have not yet instituted such recordkeeping. Due to this, there remains room for 'unofficial' experts.

While supercentenarian tracking, like birdwatching, may seem esoteric to some, recently society has recognized its use, in particular since the advent of pension payments (beginning in Germany around 1870 and now near-universal). Early trackers, however, focused either on myth-making or myth-busting; the goal was often to find out why some people lived so long and find the 'secret to long life.' Later, scientific inquiry found that in most cases, extreme ages (especially 115+ were all false. Only in recent decades has a population of persons 110+ emerged as a consistent reality (the first validated 110-year-old was in 1898, but as recently as the 1960's the 'oldest person' was as young as 109).

Pages in category "Supercentenarian trackers" There are 7 pages in this section of this category.

B Alexander Graham Bell E A. Ross Eckler, Jr. 

E cont.

Louis Epstein (supercentenarian tracker) R Jean-Marie Robine T William Thoms

Ryoung122 02:08, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

My personal article, before deletion (July 29 2007-

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Robert Douglas Young (born May 2, 1974 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a gerontology consultant and researcher best known for validating supercentenarian cases and debunking longevity claims. He is the current Senior Consultant for Gerontology for Guinness World Records (since 2005) and the Senior Claims Researcher for the Gerontology Research Group (since 1999).[1] Young has worked on several books, including Guinness World Records editions 2008, 2007, 2005 and 1997, World Almanac 2004, The Wisdom of the World's Oldest People (2005), by Jerry Friedman, and Living in Three Centuries (2006), by Mark Story.

Young graduated summa cum laude from Georgia State University in 2006, with degrees in history and gerontology.[citation needed] He is now a graduate student and research assistant at GSU.[2]

Robert has, since 1999, maintained lists of the world's oldest people for the Gerontology Research Group, and has also worked with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research,[3] the New England Centenarian Study and the Social Security Administration in attempts to establish a global database on the world's oldest people. Jean-Marie Robine of France, validator of the Jeanne Calment case, is working with INSERM to establish the International Database on Longevity.

Young is also a founding member of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation in 2004.[4]



Contents [hide] 1 Validated cases 2 Debunked cases 3 References 4 External links


[edit] Validated cases Young has provided a list of credits for each individual case; some are shared. They can be found on the GRG website.[5]


[edit] Debunked cases The number of cases he debunked is about 100,[citation needed] and here are a few of the most significant ones:

William Coates, February 2004 (claimed 114; actually 92). James Henry Brett, Jr., July 2006 (claimed 111, actually 96). [1] Reverend Toby Crosby March 8, 2007 (claimed 122; actually 96). [2] Mary Ramsey Wood July 29, 2007 (claimed 120; more probably 97). [3] Noah Raby August 14, 2007 (claimed 131; more probably 81). Micajah Weiss October 7, 2007 (claimed 114; more likely 99). [4]

[edit] References ^ Validated living supercentenarians. ^ www2.gsu.edu/~wwwger/about/admin.html. ^ www.demogr.mpg.de/calendar/files/23312.3112487793-Workshop%20Program.pdf (PDF). ^ www.supercentenarian-research-foundation.org/organization.htm. ^ VERIFIED SUPERCENTENARIAN CASES -- as of May 26, 2006

[edit] External links "Gerontology Research Group" http://www.grg.org/ "Guinness World Records" http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ "Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research" http://www.demogr.mpg.de/ "New England Centenarian Study" http://www.bumc.bu.edu/Dept/Home.aspx?DepartmentID=361 "New England Supercentenarian Study" http://www.bumc.bu.edu/Dept/Home.aspx?DepartmentID=505 "International Database on Longevity" http://www.supercentenarians.org/ "Earth's Elders Foundation" http://www.earthselders.org/ "World's Oldest People" http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/ Popular media:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5293436.stm Scientific media:

http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/2006/longevityclues.htm Scientific literature:

http://www.demografie.de/calendar/files/51736.8836975098-Workshop%20Program.pdf http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/rej.2005.8.274 http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/full/59/6/B579/TA1 Blogs/personal third-party (amateur) websites:

http://www.supercentenariancentral.com/aboutthewebmaster Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Young_%28longevity_claims_researcher%29" Categories: All articles to be expanded | Articles to be expanded since September 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Cleanup from July 2007 | Autobiographical articles | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since July 2007 | 1974 births | Living people | People from Fort Lauderdale | Gerontologists | Supercentenarian trackers

Wikipolicy School

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For those that think I am unlearned in Wikipolicies, I am listing those I find pertinent below (not a complete list yet) as I find them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:AGF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not

Other UserInfo

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(looking for age counter)

Italian supercentenarian

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I took her case from Worlds Oldest People Group: a list of supercentenarians was sent bu Giovanni Alunni some weeks ago. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_Italian_supercentenarians discussion, I reported the list there.

Stephan Ronart

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A professor who perhaps should have an article about him.Ryoung122 17:53, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

French supercentenarians

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Ok, I'll try. About Marcelle Narbonne the user is right, because she is pending for GRG, but validated by Louis Epstein, she is in his list now.--Pascar (talk) 00:59, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

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