The dean of humanity is dead, long live the dean – liberation
The dean waltz resumes. The oldest person in the world, the Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, died on Wednesday April 30 at 116 and 326 days, announced the Congregation of the Theresian sisters in which they lived. Born June 8, 1908 in the city of Saint-François d’Assise, in southern Brazil, Inah Canabarro Lucas had been recognized as dean of humanity After the death, last January, of Japanese Tomiko Itokaalso 116 years old. His reign will therefore only have lasted four months – the average being one year.
« On this day, that the resurrection embraces Sister Inah Canabarro, we give thanks for his commitment and his devotion, we ask the Lord, father of kindness, to receive it and to welcome him in his infinite love », said its congregation from Porto Alegre, near the border with Uruguay, in a press release.
It has been a hundred years since Oin Canabarro Lucas had devoted himself to religion. At 16, she had started her religious initiation in a school of the Theresian sisters in Santana Do Livramento, before living briefly in Montevideo, Uruguayan capital. Religious order at 26, back in her country, she began a long career as a religious service, where she was also a teacher and secretary. Asked about the reasons for his longevity, she attributed it to God. “He is the secret of life. He is the secret of everything ”, she said.
In 2018, at almost 110 years old, she had received the apostolic blessing of Pope Francis, according to Longeviquet, an organization specializing in longevity which establishes a database on supercentenary. By living up to 116 years old, Inah Canabarro Lucas is the second oldest nun in history, after Frenchwoman Lucile Randon, who died last year at 118.
The gerontology research group of the United States (GRG) and Longeviquet announced this Thursday, May 1, that the Briton Ethel Caterham, 115 years and 252 days, had in fact become the oldest person in the world. Born August 21, 1909 in a village in Hampshire, in the south of England, the centenary lives in a retirement home in Surrey, after having survived her husband and two daughters.
It happens to be the last living subject of King Edouard VII, whose reign ended in 1910. She is also the oldest Briton of all time, according to the Oldest in Britain database. For her 115th birthday, which she celebrated in August, she received a letter from King Charles III congratulating her to have reached this « Remarkable step ». The secret of its longevity? « I never argue with anyone! » I listen to and I do what I want ”, She said on this occasion.
Ethel Caterham currently has three grandchildren and five rear children. At 18, the new dean of humanity had gone alone to India to work as a young girl in pair with a family of soldiers, after a three -week boat trip. Shortly after her return, she met her future husband, the soldier Norman Caterham, and they got married in 1933. The couple lived in Hongkong and Gibraltar before returning to England. Her husband died in 1976, aged sixty years, now almost half a century ago.
Ethel Caterham continued to drive up to almost 100 years and play bridge until advanced age. She even survived a covid-19 infection in 2020, according to the Telegraph. The same year, she had told the BBC to have « Everything taken with philosophy, the ups like the stockings » During his long life, rejoicing to have been able to « Traveling all over the world ». She also entrusted to Salisbury Journal that it was essential to « Seize every opportunity », « To have a positive mental attitude and to consume everything in moderation ».
The oldest second in the world is also a woman, the Frenchwoman Marie-Rose Tessier. Born May 21, 1910 in Beaurepaire, in Vendée, she will celebrate her 115th birthday this month in the Ehpad where she lives, in Sables-d’Olonne. Her husband died under the bombs during the Second World War and her daughters left before her. If she survives Ethel Caterham, she would become the new dean of humanity. But all longevity records are still attributed to Jeanne Calment, who died at 122 and having kept the title of « dean of humanity » the longest.
