Benito Martínez Abrogán (died October 11, 2006) was a

Haitian Cuban Haitian Cubans (; ; ) are Cuban citizens of full or partial Haitian ancestry. Origins Haitian culture and French and Haitian Creole languages, first entered Cuba with the arrival of Haitian immigrants at the start of the 19th century. Haiti ...

who claimed to be the world's oldest living person. He claimed to have been born on June 19, 1880, near

Cavaellon Cavaillon (; ) or Cavaellon is a commune and a rural town located in the Aquin Arrondissement of the Sud department of Haiti. Geography Its nearest neighboring towns/cities are Nan Cotie (12 km north), Saint-Louis-du-Sud (20 km so ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

; however, he had no documents to verify this and was thus never an officially eligible candidate for this record. The Cuban government sent officials to Haiti to investigate, but found nothing to either prove or disprove the claim. Cuban government medical experts attested that he was at least 119 years old at the time of his death, but the reasons for this determination were never presented.

Early life

Martínez has papers proving he came to Cuba via

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

in the 1920s from

, but his age at the time was not recorded. Initially he found employment on the family

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

of future Cuban president

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. He was

nicknamed A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

, "El Avión" (the aeroplane), for the speed at which he worked as he helped to construct the original highway across Cuba. He later settled in a small farming community outside

Ciego de Avila Ciego is a Spanish word meaning "blind". It may refer to: Places *Ciego de Ávila, a Cuban city, seat of the homonym province *Ciego de Ávila Province, a Cuban province *Arriete-Ciego Montero, a Cuban village in Cienfuegos Province Other

*Ci ...

, where he lived out his days as a perpetual

bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

. He attributed his longevity to a healthy diet of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and fresh vegetables and the occasional

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

. Mr. Martínez also said the secret to his long life was that, "he had never cheated a man or said bad things of other people."

Personal life

He never owned a car. He always walked, rode a bike or took the bus. Hobbies included breeding

fighting cocks Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term " ...

, growing bananas and dancing. He rarely over ate as food was

rationed Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. He ate mostly starchy

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

and

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

cooked in

pork fat Pig fat is generally the fat in pork. The fatty acid composition of pork is found to be slightly different from meat of other animals, such as beef and lamb. The proportion of fat in pork can vary from 10–16%, but can be higher depending on the ...

. Only in the last twenty years of his life did he give up

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

. His first doctor's visit was not until he was around 115. The only time he went to the hospital was a few days before he died.

Controversy

No actual record exists of either his birth or his life prior to his immigration to Cuba, making him ineligible for consideration for the title of oldest living person, by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

, held at the time of his death by

Elizabeth Bolden Elizabeth Bolden (née Jones; August 15, 1890 – December 11, 2006) was an American supercentenarian who, at the time of her death at age 116 years, 118 days, was recognized by Guinness World Records as the then- world's oldest living person.< ...

(August 15, 1890 – December 11, 2006), an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman aged 116. Nonetheless, Abrogan maintained his claim until his death, and in his later years was the star attraction of the country's recently formed 120-Club, an organization promoting healthy lives for Cuba's senior citizens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Benito 2006 deaths Cuban people of Haitian descent Haitian emigrants Immigrants to Cuba Longevity claims People from Sud (department) People from Ciego de Ávila Province Year of birth uncertain

Early life

Personal life

Controversy

See also

References