Maria De Jesus was nine days old when New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. The year was 1893, during which Mahatma Gandhi committed his first act of civil disobedience and a crash on the New York Stock Exchange
sparked a grave depression.
Yesterday, at the age of 115 years and 114 days, de Jesus, the oldest person in the world, died.
Widowed in 1951, she had outlived two of her five children but was survived by 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. She had only been to hospital once in her life.
Born on September 10, 1893, de Jesus married Jose dos Santos when she was 26 and worked all her life on the land in Ourem, a town near the pilgrim centre of Fatima in central Portugal. While she never smoked, drank alcohol or ate meat, she liked rice pudding and ice cream.
Her later years were marred by problems with her hearing and sight but she remained alert and enjoyed sunbathing on her porch and looking through family albums. Her daughter Madalena, 84 on Christmas Day, looked after her at home. She became ill there yesterday and died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
Just five weeks ago she became the world's oldest living person when the American Edna Parker died, aged 115 years and 220 days. Guinness World Records named de Jesus as the best candidate for "Oldest Person Living" but this was still subject to official confirmation. The title now passes to American Gertrude Baines, born on April 6, 1894. The oldest man is 113-year-old Tomoji Tanabe of Japan. The longest documented lifespan was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. She died in 1997 aged 122 years, 164 days.
- INDEPENDENT
