Alexander 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 graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, parapsychologist,

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

who was the president of the Anomalous Phenomena Research Center in New York City. He was born in 1903 in

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

, Poland (then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

) to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. Imich, a

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

, 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, aged 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 British reference book published annually, list ...

'' 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, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

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 ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Alexander Imich was already mentioned in a couple of psychist English-language

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

and

journals A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

as early as 1933 and 1934.

World War II

During

, Imich and his wife Wela (pronounced Vela) fled to Soviet-occupied

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

, where he was employed as a chemist. The couple were later interned in a special settlement due to their refusal to accept Soviet citizenship. They were released under the amnesty for Polish citizens in the Soviet Union in September 1941. They 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 (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Life in the United States

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and then to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 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, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...

, giving out the 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 public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

Department of Archives and Special Collections. 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 Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fa ...

. 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 A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

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 In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

aged 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. Imich donated his body to

Mount Sinai Medical Center Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Si ...

for medical research.

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 American parapsychologists Polish chemists Writers from Manhattan Jagiellonian University alumni Jewish chemists Polish supercentenarians Jewish centenarians