| Maria Capovilla | |
 Capovilla on 9 December 2005 at the age of 116 | |
| Birth: | 14 September 1889 Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Death: | 27 August 2006 Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Age: | 116 years, 347 days |
| Country: |  ECU
|
| Validated | |
Maria Esther de Capovilla [Spanish: María] (14 September 1889 – 27 August 2006) was an Ecuadorian supercentenarian who was recognized by Guinness World Records as being the world's oldest validated living person at the time of her death. She was the last remaining validated person born in the 1880s. At 116 years, 347 days at the time of her death, she is also oldest validated person to have ever lived in Ecuador.
Biography
Born as Maria Esther Heredia Lecaro in Guayaquil on 14 September 1889, Maria 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, Croatia) in 1864. He moved to Chile in 1894 and then to Ecuador in 1910. After his first wife died, he married María. They had five children, three of whom were still living at the time of her death: Hilda (81), Irma (80), and son Anibal (78). She also had 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
At the age of 100, Maria nearly died and was given last rites, but had been free of health problems since then. On 14 September 1999, she became the first (known) Ecuadorian supercentenarian ever. In December 2005, Maria was said to be in good health and was still able to watch TV, read the papers, and walk without the aid of a stick (though she was helped by an aide). However, she was unable physically to leave her home in the past two years, which she shared with her eldest surviving daughter, Hilda, and her son-in-law. In a media interview, Maria stated her dislike of the fact that women nowadays are permitted to court men, rather than the reverse.
By March 2006, Maria's health had declined somewhat, and was no longer able to read the newspaper. She had also nearly stopped talking and could no longer walk except when helped by two people. Still, Maria was able to sit erect in her chair and fan herself, and had been doing 'fine' until she succumbed to a bout of pneumonia in the last week of August 2006.
Longevity Records
On 14 September 1999, Maria celebrated her 110th birthday becoming the first Ecuadorian supercentenarian recorded in the history.
On 13 April 2001, she became the oldest living person in South America, after the death of the Chilean woman Marta Herminia Canevaro aged of 111.
On 31 May 2001, Capovilla surpassed the age of Canevaro to become the oldest person ever from South America.
On 29 May 2004, Capovilla, then aged of 114 years and 258 days, became the oldest living person in the world, after the death of the Puerto Rican Ramona Trinidad Iglesias Jordan also aged of 114 but who was just 13 days older than Maria. After the death of Iglesias Jordan, Capovilla became also the last survivor born in 1889 and the last living person born in the 1880s.
On 12 June 2004, she surpassed the age of Iglesias Jordan to become the oldest person ever from Latin America.
On 14 September 2004, Maria celebrated her 115th birthday becoming the first Latin American supercentenarian to reach this age.
On 14 September 2005, Maria celebrated her 116th birthday becoming the first validated person to reach this age in the 21st century, the first to do that since the American Sarah Knauss in 1996, and the 7th verified person in the history to do that (after Easter Wiggins in 1990, Jeanne Calment and Delphia Welford in 1991, Tane Ikai in 1995, and Marie-Louise Meilleur and Sarah Knauss in 1996).
On 9 March 2006, Capovilla surpassed the age of Tane Ikai from Japan to become the 5th-oldest person ever.
She died from from pneumonia on 27 August 2006 just 18 days before her 117th birthday at the age of 116 years, 347 days. At the time of her death Capovilla was the oldest living person in the world for 820 days. Maria was the last living human being born in 1889 and born in the 1880s and she's the oldest person to die in 2006 and in the 2000s. She was also the 5th-oldest person ever (behind Jeanne Calment, Sarah Knauss, Marie-Louise Meilleur and Delphia Welford). Maria remained in the top 10 oldest person ever until Kane Tanaka from Japan surpassed her age on 16 December 2019. She's now the 14th-oldest validated person ever. She is the oldest supercentenarian ever from Ecuador. For a long time she remained the only person from South and Latin America to reach 116, until Francisca Celsa dos Santos from Brazil reached this age in 2020. Maria remained for more than 20 years the oldest person ever from South and Latin America, until Francisca Celsa dos Santossurpassed her age on 4 October 2021. Coincidentally, Celsa dos Santos died the day after she broke the age of Capovilla, on 5 October.
Gallery
See also
References
- Las personas más longevas Supercentenarios Latinoamericanos (LAS)
- The word from the world's oldest person The Age, 11 December 2005
- Ecuadorian woman, 116, is world's oldest China Daily, 17 December 2005
- World's Oldest Woman dies at 116 NBC, 28 August 2006
- María Esther de Capovilla Find A Grave