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

Haitian Cuban Haitian Cubans ( es, Haitiano-Cubano; french: Haïtien Cubain; ht, Ayisyen Kiben) 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 ...

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

Cavaellon Cavaellon or Cavaillon, ( ht, Kavayon) is a List of communes of Haiti, commune and a rural town located in the Aquin Arrondissement of the Sud (department), Sud Departments of Haiti, department of Haiti. Geography Its nearest neighboring towns/ ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

; 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 steamship ...

in the 1920s from

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

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

of future Cuban president

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

. He was

nicknamed A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

, “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 Arriete-Ciego Montero, also known as ''Arriete'' or ...

, where he lived out his days as a perpetual

bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never 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 the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

and fresh vegetables and the occasional

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol that acts Alcohol (drug), as a drug and is produced by Ethanol fermentation, fermentat ...

. 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 A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

, 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'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

and

sweet potatoes The sweet potato or sweetpotato ('' Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young sho ...

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 cu ...

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

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have b ...

. 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 reference book published annually, listing world ...

, held at the time of his death by Elizabeth Bolden (August 15, 1890 – December 11, 2006), an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

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 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