Maria Capovilla
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María Esther de Capovilla of Guayaquil, Ecuador (born September 14, 1889) was named the "World's Oldest Person" by Guinness World Records on December 9, 2005. As of July 2006, she is 116 years and 10 months old. Her claim as the oldest living supercentenarian was verified and, thus, supersedes both Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper (thought to be world's oldest person from May 29, 2004 to August 30, 2005) and Elizabeth Bolden (thought to be world's oldest person from August 30, 2005 to December 9, 2005). Guinness notes that "María Esther de Capovilla has beaten the odds -- not only to live past 116, but to have the records to prove it." A Guinness spokesman, Sam Knights, added in a telephone interview from London that "while a lot of the time it's difficult for people to prove their age, there was no problem with any of the documents we were shown" in Mrs Capovilla's case.[link] She was finally added to the Guinness website on April 12, 2006.
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Biography
Born as María Ester Heredia Lecaro in Guayaquil, María was the daughter of a colonel, and lived a life among the upper-class elite, attending social functions and art classes. She never smoked or drank hard liquor. In 1917, she married a military officer, Antonio Capovilla, who died in 1949. Antonio, an ethnic Italian, was born in Pola, Austria-Hungary, now Pula and part of Croatia, in 1864. He moved to Chile in 1894 and then to Ecuador in 1910. After his first wife died, he married Maria. They had five children, three of whom were still living in 2005 (the oldest two have died): Hilda, 81; Irma, 79; and son Anibal, 77. She also has eleven grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.[link]At age 100, María nearly died and was given last rites but has been free of health problems since then. As recently as December 2005 Maria is said to be in good health and able to watch TV, read the papers and walk without the aid of a stick (though she is helped by an aide). However, she has been unable physically to leave her home in the past two years, which she incidentally shares with her eldest surviving daughter, Hilda, and her son-in-law. In a media interview, María states her dislike of the fact that women nowadays are permitted to court men, rather than the reverse. She is the 6th-oldest fully documented and officially validated person to have ever lived and is the last recognized surviving person of the 1880s.
By March 2006, María's health had declined somewhat, and she was no longer able to read the newspaper. She has also nearly stopped talking and no longer walks except when helped by two persons. Maria is, however, still able to sit erect in her chair.
See also
References
- [guinnessworldrecords.com]
- [The word from the world's oldest person (with photo)]
- [116-Year-Old Ecuadorean Woman is Oldest Living Person]
- [Ecuadoran woman who once drank donkey milk is now world's oldest (with family photo)]
- [Ecuadorean woman, 116, is world's oldest (story notes Mrs Capovilla walks with assistance, not unaided)]
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