Age validation of 110-year-old World War II veteran, Ilie Ciocan, Romania’s oldest living person

The Gerontology Research Group is pleased to announce the age validation of Mr. Ilie Ciocan of Romania.

Ilie Ciocan was born in the village of Cremenari, Galicea, Valcea County, Romania on 28 May 1913. Nevertheless the study of his age, performed by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) established that his actual date of birth was 28 May 1913 according to the old Julian calendar, which is 10 June 1913 according to the new Gregorian calendar. Romania used the Julian calendar until February 1919.

The tribulations of life extended to the battlefield, as Ilie Ciocan found himself mobilized into the army at 22. Assigned to the 6th Pitesti Artillery Regiment in 1935, he marched to the front lines in 1941 during the tumult of the Second World War. As a gunner and courier servant, his service took him across the Eastern Front, from Odessa to the Don Bend, and even to the Western Front, reaching as far as Czechoslovakia. He was promoted to the rank of major.

Ilie Ciocan is the second-oldest known documented Romanian man ever, behind 111-year-old Dumitru Comănescu (1908-2020) whose age is validated by the Guinness World Records (GWR) and the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). Ciocan became the oldest known living man in Romania following the death of 108-year-old Ioan Lascău on 15 February 2021. Following the death of 109-year-old Maria Mihai on 2 February 2022, Ciocan became the oldest known living person in Romania. On 5 April 2023, following the death of 111-year-old Ioanna Proiou-Dimitriadou of Greece, Ciocan became the oldest known living person in the Balkans.

Ilie Ciocan’s case was verified by Dejan Vujić, GRG Correspondent for Serbia, specializing in the Balkan region, with the support of Mr. Ciocan’s closest family, his granddaughter Camelia Ciocan, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) on 9 November 2023.