Jose Aguinelo dos Santos was born on July 7 1888 Photo: Matt Roper

　　A Brazilian man whose parents were African slaves could be the oldest living person ever documented after receiving a birth cerficate showing he turned 126 last week, it was reported on Tuesday。

　　Jose Aguinelo dos Santos was born on July 7 1888, just two months after slavery was abolished in Brazil - the last country in the world to outlaw the trade。

　　Yet the batchelor, who never married or had children, still walks without a stick, eats four meals a day and has no health problems - despite smoking a packet of cigarettes a day for the last 50 years。

　　Jose - known simply as Ze - was 26 when World War I broke out, and already a pensioner at 65 when Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the British throne。

　　He was 52 when Brazil football legend Pele was born - and 62 when Brazil last hosted the World Cup, in 1950.

　　One of five children, Jose was born in a slave compound in the town of Pedra Branca in the state of Ceara, northeast Brazil。

　　He was among hundreds of slave families who continued to live there, even after being granted their freedom。

　　He later travelled south to the state of Sao Paulo, where he spent most of his life working on a coffee plantation in the town of Bauru。

　　Now a resident of an old people's home in the same town, Jose likes to tell jokes and sing, hates having a bath, and never misses his daily plate of rice and beans。

　　And he told Brazil's G1 website there is no secret to living a long life: "The truth is that you just keep getting older. You take each stage at a time。

　　"If I got to this age it's because I've lived a lot, that's all."

　　Mariana Silva, psychologist at the Vila Vicentina home, said Jose has no health problems and is so lucid he still amuses other residents by cracking one-liners。

　　She said: "He's one of our most with-it residents。

　　"He doesn't have high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure. The only medicine he takes are vitamins and a tablet to give him an appetite, which you can lose with old age。

　　"When he's on his own he likes to sing. None of us know the songs he sings. They're from a time no-one else remembers。

　　"He doesn't like to take a bath every day and it's sometimes impossible to get him to the shower. When he puts his foot down, that's it. No-one can get him in there."

　　Jose, who arrived at the home in 2001, received his birth certificate last month after living his entire life without any documents。

　　A team of experts arrived on his birth date after researching his past and interviewing him about his earliest memories, during which he was able to describe the slave compound perfectly。

　　The old people's home now hopes to provide conclusive evidence that he is the world's oldest man through 'Carbon-14' dating。

　　Jose Roberto Pires, the president of the retirement home, said they are determined to do the test even though it costs around ￡13,000.

　　But he added: "We are trying to find a way to do it without having to pay. This is very important. We believe the world's oldest ever person is living here with us, and this is the only way we can really prove it."Related Articles

　　据上周二报道，拿到出生证明后，一位父母均为非洲奴隶的巴西人成为史上最长寿的人。  

　　巴西是世界上最后一个废除奴隶制的国家。1888年7月7日，就在巴西奴隶制被废除的第二个月，约瑟·阿格里洛·杜斯·糝托斯出生了。

　　这个单身汉一生未娶并且没有儿女，但他现在仍然可以不用拐杖，自己走路，一日四餐，并且身体健康——虽然在之后的五十年里有每天一包烟的习惯。

　　约瑟，又名泽，他26岁时，第一次世界大战爆发。伊丽莎白二世登基时，他65岁，已经领到了养老金。

　　他52岁时，巴西足球传奇人物贝利出生。1950年，他62岁，巴西第一次举办世界杯。

　　约瑟出生在巴西东北部赛阿拉州佩德拉布兰卡小镇上的奴隶聚居区，有四个兄弟姐妹。

　　获得人身自由之后，仍然有上百户奴隶家庭留在这里，他也留了下来。

　　之后，他一路向南，到了圣保罗，在包鲁小镇的一个咖啡种植园工作。在那里度过了他的大半生。

　　现在，约瑟和同镇的老人居住在一个养老院里。他喜欢讲笑话，唱歌，不喜欢洗澡，从不错过每一顿饭。

　　在巴西G1网站上，他说他没有长寿的秘诀。事实是，你就是在慢慢变老，你要经历人生的每个阶段。

　　“如果说我能活到这个岁数，只是说明我活的时间长。仅此而已。”

　　维拉·维森蒂娜养老院的心理医生玛丽安娜·塞娃说，约瑟身体健康，头脑清醒，并且还能够讲单句笑话逗大家开心。

　　她说：“约瑟是我们这里最时髦的居民之一。”

　　约瑟胆固醇不高，没有糖尿病，也没有高血压。他唯一服用的药就是维他命和开胃药片，因为维他命和食欲都是随着年龄流失的。

　　“他自己一个人的时候喜欢唱歌，不过我们都不知道他唱的是什么，那些歌或许来自已经被人遗忘年代吧。”

　　“约瑟不喜欢天天洗澡，甚至有时让他去冲个淋浴都相当困难。他坚持己见，就是这样。没人能指使他去澡堂。”

　　约瑟2001年来到这里，一生没有生日记录，直到上个月才拿到了出生证明。

　　一个专家团队调查了约瑟的生平之后，在他生日那天来到了这里。专家们询问了他最早的记忆，他能够清楚地讲述他在奴隶聚居区那时的情形。

　　养老院希望提供一个确凿的证据来证明他是自“炭14” 年代以来世界上最长寿的人。

　　养老院的负责人 约瑟·罗伯特·皮尔斯说，即使花费13,000英镑，他们也决定做这项调查。

　　但是他又说：“不过非常重要的一点是，我们正试图找到一种不用付费的途径。我们相信这也是唯一能够证明 世界上最长寿的人和我们居住在一起。”