Born 111 years ago, Polish immigrant Alexander Imich is the oldest living man in the world.
In an interview with The New York Times, the Manhattan resident said he did not expect to live so long. Imich, who only last month was declared the world's oldest living man, told the newspaper what he thinks the reasons are for why he is still alive- one of which is him not having kids.
The Gerontology Research Group named Imich the oldest man after the former oldest man, Arturo Licata of Italy, died on April 24 at 111 years old.
"Not like it's the Nobel Prize," Imich, who survived the Soviet gulag, told The NY Times. "I never thought I'd be that old."
Imich was born to a Jewish family in Poland on Feb. 4, 1903. After escaping the Holocaust and earning a doctorate in chemistry, Imich became interested in the occult. He was particularly interested in a Polish medium named Matylda S., who was known for holding séances where she contacted the dead, the newspaper reported. Imich even published a book, "Incredible Tales of the Paranormal," in 1995.
But it is not his interest in the supernatural that kept him alive. Imich said it might be the fact that he and his wife, who died in 1986, never had children. It could also be his "good genes," or the fact that he was a gymnast, a "good runner, a good springer. Good javelin, and I was a good swimmer," Imich told The NY Times from his Upper West Side apartment.
Imich never drank alcohol, and he gave up smoking. On top of that, he barely eats, following the mystics in Asia who don't like food.
"There are some people in India who do not eat," Imich told the newspaper.
According to the Gerontology group, there are 66 women in the world that are older than Imich. The eldest is a Japanese woman, Misao Okawa, who is 116.
