Shirali Muslimov

According to legend, Muslimov worked hard every day, up to 168 years, did not smoke or drink, but ate fruits, vegetables, wholemeal bread, chicken broth, low-fat cheese and yogurt. He had several wives through his lifetime. Muslimov became ill with pneumonia between 1972 and 1973, but survived only to die later in 1973.

Muslimov's story was picked up in 1973 by National Geographic Magazine,[3] which told that on the occasion he still rode horseback and tended an orchard planted in the 1870s. National Geographic later recanted on the claim. The same story was told by the Guinness Book of World Records, stated as unconfirmed along with other similar claims.[4] The 1974 Guinness noted that medical examinations revealed that the men with these extraordinary age claims typically had the physiology of men in their 90 years old. It also stated that these age claims most likely resulted from son father and even son grandfather impersonations in order to avoid the Czarist draft.

His marital status was also controversial. According to National Geographic, he had a 120-year-old wife whom he had married 102 years earlier. However according to his obituary, published by Time magazine, when Shirali Mislimov was 136 years old, he married 57-year-old Khatum-Khanum (1884–1988).[5]

The only evidence in favor of Muslimov's age claim is an official passport that listed his birthdate. Muslimov had no known birth certificate.

The case of Muslimov became known in 1963, when a young photojournalist of TASS, Kalman Kaspiev, went to Barzavu to interview the centenarian. The story was picked up by the Soviet press, by the National Geographic, and by the Danone company, which for promotional reasons suggested that the longevity of Muslimov was linked to a diet of dairy, and yogurt in particular. This interest changed the life of the small Azeri village, which was connected to the electricity grid and started receiving radio and television broadcasts.

In the 1970s many Westerners were made aware of these extreme claims of longevity in Azerbaijan and elsewhere in the Caucasus region when a U.S. Danone yogurt commercial invoked some of these people to suggest that the secret of their long lives lay in the frequent consumption of yogurt.

• Longevity myths
• Longevity claims

• A lesson in longevity
• Sept. 17, 1973 TIME Magazine obituary (bottom of page)
• "Azerbaijan's Legendary Centenarian", a 1996 article detailing the story behind Muslimov's claims of incredible longevity
• Centenarians in Azerbaijan

http://yourenotfromaroundhere.com/blog/long-livers-lerik-azerbaijan/