Who is Zaro Ağa, Who Lived for 157 Years by Eating Yogurt?

We will tell you about a man who lived for 157 years, Zaro Agha. He has seen 10 sultans, a president, married 29 times, and is one of the longest living people in Turkey and in the world, according to some sources, who do not even know the number of his children and grandchildren. According to Zaro Ağa, who was born in the 18th century and died in the 20th century, the secret of longevity is hidden in a single food. Yogurt!

Zaro Ağa was born in Bitlis in 1777 and died in Istanbul in 1934. When Zaro Ağa was born, Abdulhamid I was on the throne. Then, respectively, II. Selim, IV. Mustafa, II. Mahmud, Abdulmecid, Abdulaziz, V.Murad, II. Abdülhamid, V. Mehmet Reşat and Vahdettin ascend to the throne, after which the republic is declared and Zaro Ağa witnesses the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. So it sees 1 regimes at once. Both the sultanate and the republic! It also witnesses 2 wars.

Zaro Ağa lived through the Crimean War, the Russian War, the Pleven, the Caucasian War, the Balkan War, the First World War, the years of occupation and the War of Independence. There are traces of him in the construction of 4 historical buildings that are still standing today.
Zaro Ağa works in the construction of Ortaköy Mosque, Nusretiye Mosque, Selimiye Barracks and Dolmabahçe Palace.

There is only one advice for those who want to live longer: "Eat lots of yogurt"

Zaro Ağa, who lives in a small house in Tophane, eats his dinner early and only has yogurt or ayran and bread on his table. Zaro Ağa does not give up this habit for 100 years.

THE PADISHAH WHO WERE RULE DURING THE PERIOD I LIVED:

• Abdulhamid I (1774 – 1789)
• III. Selim (1789 – 1807)
• IV. Mustafa (1807 – 1808)
• II. Mahmud (1808 – 1839)
• Abdulmecid (1839 – 1861)
• Abdulaziz (1861 – 1876)
• Murad V (30 May 1876 – 31 August 1876)
• II. Abdulhamid (1876 – 1909)
• Mehmed Reşad (1909 – 1918)
• Mehmed Vahideddin (1918 – 1922)

WARS WHICH WERE HELD IN THE PERIOD:

Ottoman – Persian War (1775 – 1779)
* Ottoman – Austrian War (1787 – 1791)
* Ottoman – Russian War (1787 – 1792)
* Siege of Akka (19 May 1798 – 1 April 1799)
* First Barbary War (1801 – 1805)
* Ottoman – Russian War (1806 – 1812)
* Ottoman – British War (1807 – 1809)
* Ottoman – Saudi Wars (1811 – 1818)
* II. Barbary War (1815)
* Ottoman – Persian War (1821 – 1823)
* Ottoman – Russian War (1828 – 1829)
* I. Ottoman – Egyptian War (1831 – 1833)
* II. Ottoman – Egyptian War (1839 – 1841)
* Crimean War (1853 – 1856)
* I. Montenegro Campaign (1858)
* II. Montenegro Campaign (1861 – 1862)
* Ottoman – Serbian War (1876 – 1877)
* Ottoman – Montenegrin War (1876 – 1878)
* 93 War (1877 – 1878)
* 30 Day War (1897)
* Tripoli War (1911 – 1912)
* First Balkan War (1912 – 1913)
* II. Balkan War (1913)
* World War I (1914 – 1918)
* War of Independence (1919 – 1923)

 

Zaro Ağa took the field before the Everton – Liverpool derby while he was in England in 1931. Zaro Ağa, who plays for Everton, made warm-up exercises with Everton's captain Dixie Dean at Goodison Park.

Two Americans, whom he met while working as a porter, take Zaro Ağa to America with the promise of a new life. However, it turns out that the purpose of these people was different. They dress him in a special costume and present him at the circus as "the oldest person in the world".

Zaro Ağa's long life inspired the advertising campaign of the National Economy and Savings Society. Postcards with the words "Who eats Turkish grapes and hazelnuts like Zaro Ağa, and activates the digestive system with olive oil and İzmir figs, will be healthy at this age like him" were translated into 4 languages, and with the aforementioned advertising campaign, it was aimed to increase the export of our agricultural products.

Taking a photo with Zaro Agha is $10, kissing the agha is $15

They take 150-year-old Zaro Ağa around the country and tire his tired body thoroughly. such that he zammoments It costs 10 dollars to take a photo with Zaro Ağa, and 15 dollars to kiss. Life in the circus makes Zaro Ağa very tired and he is hospitalized when he returns to Istanbul.

Zaro Ağa, who did not go to a doctor until the age of 157, died due to tuberculosis in his lungs and an enlarged heart. Zaro Ağa, who has been married 20 times throughout his life, never neglects his wives, but does not know the number of children and grandchildren.

He became the focal point of the world press and visited Italy in 1925 as the longest living person in the world, visited the United States in 1930, departing from Greece at the invitation of an anti-alcohol association, and the United Kingdom in 1931. During the single-party period, an advertising campaign was organized by the National Economy and Savings Society and benefited from Zaro Ağa.

On one side, the picture of Zaro Ağa standing in the middle of two women is on the other side. The postcards with the inscription were translated into four languages ​​in Hungary and distributed all over the world. He met Mustafa Kemal Atatürk twice and complained that he gave too many rights to women.

So much so that while he was being buried, one of his great-grandchildren is said to have shouted: “Hoy hooy is dead, my father! He left without getting enough of his world!” Finally, let's add that there is a book about Zaro Ağa's life.