| Inah Canabarro Lucas | |
 Canabarro Lucas on her 110th birthday in 2018 | |
| Birth: | 8 June 1908 Sao Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Age: | 116 years, 277 days |
| Relatives: |  BRA
|
| Validated | |
Inah Canabarro Lucas (born 8 June 1908), known as Sister Inah [Portuguese: Irmã Inah], is a Brazilian supercentenarian who is recognised by Guinness World Records as being the oldest validated living person in the world since the death of 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka of Japan on 29 December 2024. Her age is also validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography
Early Life
Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in Sao Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on 8 June 1908 (though claims her birthday is 27 May). Her parents were Joao Antonio Lucas and Mariana Canabarro Lucas. As a child, she was so skinny that many people didn't think she would live past the age of seven. She is the great-granddaughter of General David Canabarro. Her father died in combat in 1923.
Canabarro Lucas studied at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul. Around 1928, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she became a nun. In 1930, she returned to Brazil to teach Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1940s, she moved back to Santana do Livramento where she worked as a teacher.
Later Life
Canabarro Lucas currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, at the age of 116 years, 277 days (claims 116 years, 289 days). At the age of 110, she began having some mobility difficulties and had to start using a walker. On 25 January 2021, at the age of 112, she received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, making her one of oldest people to receive the vaccine. She credits her longevity to God.
Canabarro Lucas became the oldest validated living person in Brazil following the death of Antonia da Santa Cruz on 23 January 2022. She later became the oldest validated living person in the whole of both South and Latin America following the death of Colombian Sofia Rojas on 30 July 2022.
On 2 January 2022, at the age of 113 years, 208 days, Canabarro Lucas surpassed the age of Luzia Mohrs to become the oldest Brazilian ecclesiastical person ever. She is currently the second-oldest validated nun ever, after Lucile Randon.
In October 2022, Canabarro Lucas contracted COVID-19 while she was hospitalized, but was later able to recover from the disease in November, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease.
Following the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023, Canabarro Lucas became the oldest living nun in the world.
On her 115th birthday in June 2023, Canabarro Lucas was visited by newly-appointed GRG Correspondent for Brazil, Dr. Angelo Jose Goncalves Bos, who presented her with the official GRG plaque recognizing her as the oldest living person in South America. According to the GRG, she is the sixth supercentenarian in South America who reached the age of 115, after Maria Capovilla of Ecuador (1889–2006), Julia Maria Francisca Simao of Brazil (1901–2017), Francisca Celsa dos Santos of Brazil (1904–2021), Antonia da Santa Cruz of Brazil (1905–2022), and Casilda Benegas de Gallego of Paraguay/Argentina (1907–2022).
Following the death of Tomiko Itooka on 29 December 2024, Canabarro Lucas became the oldest validated living person in the world, as well as the last surviving validated person born in 1908.
Canabarro Lucas may also be the last surviving person who was alive when someone was alive from the 1700s and 18th century. Mary Wilkins may have been the last surviving person born in the 1700s (though her age has not been officially verified) and she died when Canabarro Lucas was about two months old. Salome Sellers is widely recognized as the last surviving person born in the 18th century and she died when Canabarro Lucas was about seven months old.
She is the last surviving validated Brazilian person to have been born during the government of President Afonso Pena (1906-1909).
Gallery
References
- GRG World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- 103 anos de paixão pelo Inter. Internacional, 27 May 2011
- FELIZ ANIVERSÁRIO MADRE INAH CANABARRO MINHA AMIGA Julio Gomez on Facebook, 30 May 2016
- Freira de Porto Alegre tem 108 anos e está sempre em atividade Diário Gaúcho, 3 June 2016
- Conterrâneas, amanhã a Madre Inah faz 110 anos!! Liana D' Abreu on Facebook, 26 May 2018
- Freira gaúcha completa 110 anos Gauchazh Almanaque, 26 May 2018
- Torcedora completa 111 anos e ganha festa do Internacional diario da manha, 31 May 2019
- 112th birthday Facebook Post, 27 May 2020
- Religiosa de 112 anos recebe a primeira dose de vacina contra a covid-19 em Porto Alegre GZH, 26 January 2021
- Parabéns tia Inah, 113 anos de pura alegria!!! Carmen Martins Costa on Facebook, 27 May 2021
- Continuamos esta jornada com a nossa querida irmã Inah Canabarro Lucas de 114 anos. Irmãs Teresianas on Facebook, 12 May 2022
- Hoje comemoramos 114 anos da nossa querida Irmã Teresiana, Inah Canabarro Lucas Colégio Santa Teresa de Jesus - Porto Alegre on Facebook, 27 May 2022
- Mention of COVID-19 survival, 16 November 2022
- Colorada e fã de chocolate, freira gaúcha completa 115 anos neste sábado GZH, 27 May 2023
- BRAZIL: The Gerontology Research Group honors Inah Canabarro Lucas on her 115th birthday World Supercentenarian Forum, 10 June 2023
- Pessoa mais velha da América Latina tem 115 anos e é acompanhada pelo Instituto de Geriatria e Gerontologia da PUCRS Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), 17 August 2023
- Inah Canabarro Lucas of Brazil, 116, confirmed as the World’s Oldest Person, candidate for the GWR title, and the last surviving human born in 1908 Gerontology Research Group, 4 January 2025
- Oldest nun Inah Canabarro Lucas who was blessed by the pope becomes world's oldest person Guinness World Records, 4 January 2025
| World's Oldest Living Nun Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Anne Samson • Fernande Charpentier • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria de Jaeger • Marie-Josephine Gaudette • Lucile Randon • Inah Canabarro Lucas |
| Brazil's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E) |
|
Anisio Rodrigues Alves • Placida Maria do Livramento • Ana Nogueira de Luca • Maria Gomes Valentim • Maria Amorim Gularte • Julia Maria Francisca Simao • Luzia Mohrs • Francisca Celsa dos Santos • Antonia da Santa Cruz • Inah Canabarro Lucas |