| Pawel Parniak | |
 Pawel Parniak on his 107th birthday (claimed 116th) in 2006. | |
| Birth: | 27 February 1899 Nowosiolka Biskupia (now Zbruchans'ke), Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) |
| Death: | 27 March 2006 Woliborz, Lower Silesia, Poland |
| Age: | 107 years, 28 days |
| Country: |  UKR POL
|
| Centenarian | |
Pawel Parniak [Polish: Paweł] (27 February 1899 (claimed 1890) – 27 March 2006) was an Ukrainian-Polish centenarian. He died at the claimed age of 116, and claimed to be the world's oldest living person and oldest combat veteran ever, but his age was later debunked.
Biography[]
Pawel Parniak was born in 27 February 1899 (claimed 1890) in Nowosiolka Biskupia [Polish: Nowosiółka] (now Zbruchans'ke), Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine).
Parniak was a World War I veteran. He enlisted for the Austro-Hungarian army in 1914. In 1919, he joined the Polish army. From 1926 to 1932, he had emigrated to Canada seeking employment. During World War II he was recruited again and suffered several stabbing wounds inflicted by a Ukrainian soldier, but survived this.
In 2002, Parniak gained international attention, when he was named Poland's oldest man by the Polish Book of Records.
Pawel Parniak died in Woliborz, Lower Silesia, Poland on 27 March 2006 at the age of 107 years, 28 days (claimed 116 years, 28 days). At the time of his death, he had 11 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 22 great-great-grandchildren.
Age Issues[]
The birthdates of his parents (1870 and 1875) suggest Parniak may have been about five years younger. The claim is also doubted because there have been other Polish claims as high as age 120, and it was common for Polish men to inflate their age to avoid service in World War II. However, that strategy, if employed here, was not effective, as Pawel was forced into service anyway.
Later research indicated that Parniak was "only" 107[1], not 116, at death. His claim of 116 was reported to have been debunked in the book Exceptional Lifespans. He was the last known living man in Poland born in 1800s.
References[]
- 116. urodziny pana Pawła Wiadomości, 27 February 2006
- Mamałyga, czosnek i uśmiech. Najstarszy Polak przeżył 42369 dni Twoje Sudety, 27 February 2006 (Archived)
- Kraina długowiecznych WOLIBÓRZ Naszemiasto.pl, 28 February 2006 (Archived)
- Pawel Parniak (116) died in 2006) Narkive, 28 March 2007
- Rekordowa długość życia Polskie Rekordy, 31 July 2017
- Repatriated historical supercentenarian cases "Centenarians, Semi-supercentenarians and the Emergence of Supercentenarians in Poland", Exceptional Lifespans (pp 147-167), 10 December 2020