Rio de Janeiro: As she approaches her 120th birthday, Deolira Gliceria Pedro da Silva, a great-grandmother from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is pushing to be recognized as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records. Currently, the record is held by another Brazilian, 116-year-old nun Inah Canabarro Lucas from Rio Grande do Sul, but Deolira’s family and doctors are confident that she will soon claim the title.
“She is still not in the book, but she is the oldest in the world according to the documents we have on her, as I recently discovered,” said Deolira’s granddaughter, Doroteia Ferreira da Silva, who is half her age.
According to these documents, Deolira was born on March 10, 1905, in the rural town of Porciuncula, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Now living in a colorfully painted house in Itaperuna, she is cared for by her granddaughters, Doroteia, 60, and Leida Ferreira da Silva, 64.
The elderly woman is also under the supervision of doctors and researchers eager to understand how she has outlived Brazil’s average life expectancy of 76.4 years by over four decades.
“Mrs. Deolira, in 2025, will be 120 years old. She is in good general health for her condition and is not taking any medication,” said geriatrician Dr. Juair de Abreu Pereira, who regularly monitors her health and is assisting her family with the Guinness application process.
While Guinness World Records has not confirmed receiving her application, the institution receives numerous claims from individuals worldwide. A significant challenge to her recognition arises from major floods in the region nearly two decades ago that destroyed most of her original documents, according to her doctor.
Despite the lack of official documentation, researchers still believe that Deolira is at least over 100 years old. Mateus Vidigal, a researcher from the University of São Paulo, has been studying her case as part of a broader project to understand the super elderly population in Brazil.
“Mrs. Deolira has not been excluded from the study, but there is this fragility, which is the lack of documentation that is approved by those organizations,” Vidigal explained, referring to institutions like Guinness World Records.
Dr. Pereira attributes her longevity to a healthy diet and good sleeping habits. Deolira remains active and engaged with her family, with a fondness for eating bananas.
“I wish I could get to her age and be like that,” said Doroteia Ferreira da Silva. “While we have high blood pressure and diabetes, she does not have any of that.”
