World's 'oldest man' dies at 122 after attributing his long life to 'no alcohol, tobacco or women'

A man claimed by Russia to be the oldest in the world has died at the age of 122, said regional officials. Magomed Labazanov was born in 1890, before last tsar Nicholas the Second took the throne, and he was 27 when Lenin seized power in the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, it is claimed. His recipe for long life - which he outlined four years ago - was 'abstaining from alcohol, tobacco - and women.' Despite this he was twice married, divorcing his first wife because she failed to produce any children. A former sawmill worker, he never learned to read of write but said that a 'proper diet' of fruits, dairy products, corn, whey, fruits, vegetables and wild garlic - 'the true nourishment for centenarians' - was also crucial to his longevity. He celebrated his 118th birthday by dancing the Lezginka, a popular Caucasus folk dance. Relatives failed in their mission to enter him in the Guinness Book of World Records because he had no birth certificate or other papers to prove his age. Friends said this was due to the chaos in Soviet times when old church and mosque records were destroyed. A Muslim, he lived in a village in Dagestan in the Caucasus region of southern Russia, an area famed for people surviving to great ages. Aged over 50 when the Second World War began in the USSR, he was uprooted by Stalin and deported to Central Asia, returning in the 1950s. He boasted 18 grandchildren and more than 20 great great grandsons. He outlived three of his four sons.