Lucy Hannah

Lucy Terrell Hannah (July 16, 1875 - March 21, 1993) was an American supercentenarian. Hannah is the fourth-oldest person on record and the oldest African American ever, as well as the oldest living American at the time of her death. She is also the oldest person ever not to have held the title of oldest living person, since her final years coincided with those of Jeanne Calment, the oldest documented person on record. In certain scientific circles Hannah is considered the third-oldest person ever, though Guinness recognizes her as fourth, after the famous Jeanne Calment (1875–1997), the disputed Shigechiyo Izumi (1865?–1986) and Sarah Knauss (1880–1999), the only American who has ever eclipsed her longevity.

Hannah was born Lucy Terrell in Alabama and died in Detroit, Michigan, where she had moved in order to escape the racial tensions of the deep South. At Hannah's death, her family claimed she had been 118, which is backed by her SSDI listing, [ [http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?ssn=363-68-1988 Social Security Death Index record] ] but the case escaped more than local media notice. However, further investigation by the Social Security Administration's "Kestenbaum" study more than 10 years later verified her age at death as having been 117 years and 248 days.

ee also

* List of the verified oldest people
* Longevity
* Oldest people
* Supercentenarian

References

External links

* [http://www.grg.org Gerontology Research Group]
* [http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/oldest.html The Oldest Human Beings]