World’s Oldest Person Dies at Age 116

Maria Esther de Capovilla, who was believed to be the oldest person in the world, died Sunday at the ripe old age of 116. Her granddaughter, Catherine Capovilla, a property manager and real estate agent in Miami, said that Capovilla died Sunday afternoon in a hospital in Guayaquil, on the coast of Ecuador. Catherine Capovilla told the Associated Press that her grandmother died two days after coming down with pneumonia. Her funeral will be held Monday.

Maria de Capovilla was born on September 14, 1889, the same year as Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin. As a young girl, she loved to paint, play piano, embroider, and waltz at family parties. She was married in 1917 and her husband died in 1949. Three of her five children—Irma, Hilda, and son Anibal—are still living. Maria leaves behind 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.

Capovilla told the Associated Press last December that her secret to living such a long time was very simple. She never smoked, never drank hard liquor, and she always ate three square meals a day. "Only a small cup of wine with lunch, and nothing more," she said. For the past 20 years, she had lived with her elder daughter Hilda, and her son-in-law Martin.

When Maria’s family sent details of her birth and marriage certificates to the Guinness World Records publishers in London last December, they confirmed her to be the oldest living person. Robert Young, a senior consultant for Gerontology for Guinness World Records, said Sunday that the oldest person alive now appears to be Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bolden of Memphis, TN. Bolden, born August 14, 1890, is the daughter of freed slaves. "Guinness World Records will have to make an official announcement from London," Young said. For all practical purposes, the next oldest person is going to be presumed to be Elizabeth Bolden. She is 116, but she was born 11 months after Capovilla.