Alexander Imich, Parapsychologist, Retired Chemist, Supercentenarian

Today is Mitchell Jay Rabin’s very first radio show on PRN.
His guest is Alexander Imich
Born February 4, 1903 Częstochowa, Russian empire
Residence Manhattan, New York
Occupation parapsychologist, retired chemist
 
Alexander Imich, PhD (born February 4, 1903) is the president of the Anomalous Phenomena Research Center in New York City. He was born in Częstochowa, Poland in 1903 to a Jewish family. At age 110 years, 35 days, he is one of the few supercentenarians known for reasons other than longevity.
 
Imich states that as a 15 year old schoolboy he, together with the rest of his class, joined the Polish forces fighting the Russians and Bolsheviks in 1918. His older brother served as instructor in the automobile division, so young Imich learned to drive trucks for the army until the Bolshevik forces were pushed back and Imich went back to school.
 
He earned his PhD in zoology at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, in 1929[2] but as he could not find an academic position in zoology, he switched to chemistry. During the 1920s and 1930s he did some research on a medium, Matylda, for the Polish Society for Psychical Research. He published a report in 1932 in a German journal, Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie, but all of the notes and photos from the research that wasn’t published were lost during World War II.
 
During World War II, Imich and his wife Wela (pronounced Vela) fled to Soviet Białystok, where he was employed as a chemist. The couple were later interned in a labor camp for the duration of the war due to their refusal to accept Soviet citizenship. They were eventually freed and chose to emigrate to the U.S. in 1952, as almost all of their Polish relatives and friends had died in the war.
 
After a long career as a consultant chemist, he retired in New York. After his wife Wela died in 1986, Imich took up his lifelong interest in parapsychology again, giving out the Imich prize for parapsychology research for several years until he began experiencing financial problems. He has written numerous papers for journals in the field and edited a book, “Incredible Tales of the Paranormal” which was published by Bramble Books in 1995. He started the Anomalous Phenomena Research Center in 1999, trying to find a way to produce “The Crucial Demonstration”, the goal of which is to demonstrate the reality of paranormal phenomena to mainstream scientists and the general public. Imich practices calorie restriction and says that this is a part of the reason why he has lived so long.