GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador – At 100 years old, she became bedridden and was so weakened by a stomach ailment that a priest administered last rites. But Maria Esther de Capovilla recovered, and 16 years later she is the oldest person on Earth, according to Guinness World Records.
Born on Sept. 14, 1889, the same year as Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, Capovilla was married the year the United States entered World War I – 1917 – and widowed in 1949.
“We see the condition she is in, and what is admirable is not only that she reached this age, but that she got here in this shape, in very good health,” said Capovilla’s daughter at the home where her mother lives in this coastal city.
Seated on a sofa and waving a fan in the tropical heat, Capovilla seemed bemused when her daughter, 79, leaned close to her mother’s ear and told her she was famous because she was the world’s oldest person. Capovilla shook her head and smiled.
Her calm disposition may be the secret to her longevity, her daughter said.
“She always had a very tranquil character,” she said. “She does not get upset by anything. She takes things very calmly and she has been that way her whole life.”
Emiliano Mercado Del Toro of Puerto Rico retains the title of oldest man, at 114.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
