A Toronto man is marking a major milestone today as he becomes Canada's only male super centenarian.
Zoltan Sarosy turns 110 today and a big celebration is being held this afternoon at Chartwell Grenadier Retirement Residence, the High Park seniors’ home where he resides.
Documentary filmmaker Stacey Simon said Sarosy is the oldest man in Canada and the third oldest man in the world.
Sarosy, who was born in Budapest in 1906, moved to Canada in the 1950s after working as a German and Hungarian translator.
He is also a champion chess master, Simon noted.
She said last year Sarosy was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest chess player in the world. He was also inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2006 at the age of 100.
According to her research, Simon said there are only 48 super centenarians in the world and of those, 45 are women. The oldest person living today is 116 and the oldest person ever documented was 122.
In a clip Simon posted to YouTube of her upcoming documentary on Sarosy, the super centenarian says he isn’t quite sure what the secret to a long life is.
“I’m still working on the formula,” he said with a laugh.
“As soon as I have it and patent it, you will have it.”
Simon says Sarosy is a perpetually optimistic and positive person who is in remarkably good health.
"He has an amazing sense of humour. He laughs a lot," she said.
"I think it is his sense of humour that keeps his spirit youthful."
