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AROUND THE WORLD 2: The World’s Oldest Person Dies

On August 27 Maria Esther de Capovilla, reportedly the world’s oldest living person, died at the age of 116 in Quito, Ecuador. Capovilla was born in the year 1889. She died two days after being diagnosed with pneumonia at a hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Capovilla was married in the year 1917 and raised five children. Her husband passed away in 1949. She loved to embroider, paint and dance and never drank liquor or smoked –which may have been the key to her long life. Capovilla was announced the oldest person alive in December of 2005, when members of her family submitted her marriage and birth certificates to the Guinness Book of World Records. Capovilla had a large family including her five children, three who are still alive, her 12 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.

Now the oldest reported living person resides in Memphis, Tennessee and her name is Elizabeth Bolden. Bolden is also 116 but was born 11 months after Capovilla.

Capovilla’s funeral was planned for Monday, August 28. An official announcement from the Guinness Book of World Records concerning Capovilla’s death is expected within the coming weeks.

--Written by Tahira Lindsay

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