Peter Czartan
Peter Czartan | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Czartan taken by the count of Wallis | |
| Born | 1539 (unconfirmed) Rofrosh, Eastern Hungarian Kingdom |
| Died | 1724 (aged 184–185) |
| Spouse | ≥3 |
| Children | ≥2 |
Peter Czartan was an 18th-century man in the Kingdom of Hungary who was recorded by writers in the 19th century to have lived to the age of 184 or 185 years.[1]
Biography
[edit]Czartan was allegedly born in 1539 in the village of Rofrosh (or Kofrock),[2] which was close to Timișoara, in the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (now Romania). He grew up in a Greek Orthodox family, and would have been 13 years old during the Ottoman conquering of Timișoara in 1552, where he was said to have looked after his father's cattle. Prior to his death, he was visited by George Olivier, count of Wallis, who "took a likeness" to him, according to a letter written to the States General of the United Netherlands dated January 29th, 1724.[3] The alleged dialogue of their conversation records a gift being given by the count to Czartan.[4] He also took a portrait of him, which survives.[5]
He was a deeply religious man, who strictly observed all required days of fasting.[6] He had red hair and his beard was described as "greenish-white" and "the color of bread mould".[7] He supposedly was able, in his later years, to carry his descendants around in his arms.[5] He had milk, kolach, and brandy as major staples of his diet, and he had few teeth left.[2]
Czartan died in Belgrade in 1724,[8] and was, at the time, survived by great-great grandchildren.[3] His son supposedly lived to the age of at least 97,[6] and had been born to his 3rd wife.[7]
Criticism of claims
[edit]The original claim of Czartan's advanced age came from Bolle Willum Luxdorph's Icones Longaevorum,[7] which paired him with a couple, John (Janos) and Sarah Rovin, whom were claimed to have lived to the ages of 172 and 164, respectively.[9] As early as 1880, groups of researchers & medical professionals cast doubt on the alleged advanced age of Czartan.[10] Hungary first started to utilize parish records of baptisms in 1515, and use was not widespread by the time of Czartan's birth in 1539,[11] so verification of a potential 1539 birth for a peasant would be unlikely.
References
[edit]- ↑ Blake, Rev. John Lauris (1853). A Family-text Book for the Country: Or, The Farmer at Home. New York: C.M. Saxton. p. 325.
- 1 2 Sinclair, Sir John (1818). The Code of Health and Longevity: Or, A General View of the Rules and Principles Calculated for the Preservation of Health, and the Attainment of Long Life. M'Millan. pp. 63–64.
- 1 2 Taylor, J. (1833). The Wonders of Nature and Art: Comprising Upward of Three Hundred of the Most Remarkable Curiiosities and Phenomena in the Known World ... London: A.K. Newman. p. 11.
- ↑ Jugendblätter München: 1873 (in German). Schnell & Steiner. 1873. p. 199.
- 1 2 BUCHAN (M.D.), William (1825). The Cottage Physician, and Family Adviser; Or, Every Man His Own Doctor and Herbalist ... Edited by W. Buchan and the Members of a Private Medical Society. Third Edition. Sherwood&Company. p. 169.
- 1 2 Wanley, Nathaniel (1806). The Wonders of the Little World; Or, A General History of Man:: Displaying the Various Faculties, Capacities, Powers and Defects of the Human Body and Mind, in Many Thousand Most Interesting Relations of Persons Remarkable for Bodily Perfections Or Defects; Collected from the Writings of the Most Approved Historians, Philosophers, and Physicians, of All Ages and Countries. Forming a Complete System of the Mental and Corporeal Powers and Defects of Human Nature; and Intended to Increase Knowledge, to Promote Virtue, to Discourage Vice, and to Furnish Topics for Innocent and Ingenious Conversation. W.J. and J. Richardson; Otridge and Son; R. Faulder; Cuthell and Martin; [and 14 others] ... Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme; and Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe. p. 99.
- 1 2 3 Jeune, Bernard (1999). Validation of Exceptional Longevity. Odense University Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-87-7838-466-9.
- ↑ McCarty, Louis Philippe (1890). Health, Happiness, and Longevity : Health Without Medicine : Happiness Without Money : the Result, Longevity. San Francisco: Carson & Company. p. 79.
- ↑ "THE HISTORY OF THE LONGEST-LIVING MEN". The Old Man. Aarhus University Press. 2023. doi:10.2307/jj.4145169.6. ISBN 978-87-7219-126-3. JSTOR jj.4145169.
- ↑ "Human Longevity". Transactions of the Indiana State Medical Society. Cameron & M'Neely. 1880. p. 77.
- ↑ "Parish registers". Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2025-01-04.