Alexander Herbert Imich (February 4, 1903 – June 8, 2014) was a Polish-American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

, parapsychologist,

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

who was the president of the

Anomalous Phenomena Anomalistics is the use of scientific methods to evaluate anomalies (phenomena that fall outside current understanding), with the aim of finding a rational explanation.Hess David J. (1997) "Science Studies: an advanced introduction" New York Un ...

Research Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was born in 1903 in Częstochowa, Poland (then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. Imich, a supercentenarian, also became the oldest living man at age 111 after the death of almost 112-year-old Arturo Licata, of Italy, on April 24, 2014. Until his own death a little more than a month later, at the age of 111 years and 124 days, Imich was certified by ''

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 ...

'' as the world's oldest living man. Imich was also the last surviving veteran of the Polish-Soviet War.

Early war service

Imich stated that, at age 15, he and the rest of his class joined the Polish forces to fight the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in 1918. His older brother reportedly served as an instructor in the automobile division, so Imich learned to drive trucks for the army until the Bolshevik forces were pushed back and Imich returned to school.

Academic career

He earned a PhD in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

at the Jagiellonian University in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

in 1929, but as he could not find an academic position in zoology, he switched to chemistry. During the 1920s and 1930s he did some research on a medium, Matylda, for the Polish Society for Psychical Research. He published a report in 1932 in a German journal called ''Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie'', but all of the unpublished notes and photos from the research were lost during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Alexander Imich was already mentioned in a couple of English-language psychist books and journals as early as 1933 and 1934.

World War II

During

, Imich and his wife Wela (pronounced Vela) fled to Soviet-occupied Białystok, where he was employed as a chemist. The couple were later interned in a labor camp for the duration of the war due to their refusal to accept Soviet citizenship. They were eventually freed and chose to emigrate to the U.S. in 1951, as almost all of their Polish relatives and friends were murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

Life in the United States

In 1952, Imich and Wela (who died in 1986) emigrated to the United States, first to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and then to New York, dividing their time between both places. To make a living, Imich initially took up chemistry, but once Wela made a career for herself as a psychologist in 1965, he turned to parapsychology. After becoming a widower, he continued his lifelong interest in

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...

, giving out the Imich prize for parapsychology research for several years until he began experiencing financial problems. Imich wrote numerous papers for journals in the field and edited a book, ''Incredible Tales of the Paranormal'', which was published by Bramble Books in 1995. He formed the Anomalous Phenomena Research Center in 1999, trying to find a way to produce "The Crucial Demonstration", the goal of which is to demonstrate the reality of paranormal phenomena to mainstream scientists and the general public. In 2012, he began to transfer the records of his research into the paranormal to the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. Imich suffered a fall either on or shortly before his 111th birthday—with him spending his 111th birthday in the New York City's Roosevelt Hospital. After his release from Roosevelt Hospital, Imich belatedly celebrated his 111th birthday either in late April or early May 2014. In April 2014, Imich's home attendant told Rabbi Pinny Marozov that, in his opinion, Alexander Imich could live for another couple of years, indicating that Imich was still in good health during this time. After being the world's oldest living man for around 1.5 months, Alexander Imich died on June 8, 2014, at 9:03 AM from natural causes at the age of 111. He was succeeded as the world's oldest man by Sakari Momoi of Japan (who was born on February 5, 1903, just one day after Imich). Imich attributed his long life to good genetics, decent nutrition and exercise, and not having children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imich, Alexander 1903 births 2014 deaths People from Częstochowa People from Piotrków Governorate Polish emigrants to the United States American people of Polish-Jewish descent American supercentenarians Men supercentenarians Polish academics Polish Army personnel Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Parapsychologists Polish chemists Writers from Manhattan Jagiellonian University alumni Jewish chemists Polish supercentenarians