Francisco Núñez Olivera

Spanish supercentenarians are citizens, residents or emigrants from Spain who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. , the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 45 Spanish supercentenarians, including 42 residents and 3 emigrants. More supercentenarians were identified by other studies and by news reports. As of , the oldest living Spaniard is Angelina Torres Vallbona born in Catalonia, aged . The oldest verified Spanish person ever is Maria Branyas who emigrated from the United States in 1915 and died in Olot, Catalonia on 19 August 2024 at the age of .

100 oldest known Spaniards

Biographies

Galo Leoz

Galo Leoz (22 April 1879 – 23 January 1990) was a Spanish professor of ophtalmology at the Complutense University of Madrid. He performed pioneering studies on the degeneration and regeneration of optical nerves, and on cornea transplants. He received the Spanish and was president of the Spanish Ophtalmological Society. He was considered the world's oldest doctor, as he kept working until the age of 103. Leoz was Spain's oldest known living person when he died aged 110 years 276 days. His record was surpassed in 1992 by Josep Armengol Jover (23 July 1881 – 20 January 1994), who lived 112 years and 181 days.

Joan Riudavets

Joan Riudavets Moll (15 December 1889 – 5 March 2004) was born in Es Migjorn Gran, Menorca, where he lived until his death in 2004. His mother, Catalina Moll Mercadés, died at age 25 in December 1889; his father was a cobbler. Riudavets also worked as a cobbler until he retired in 1954 and was a former village councillor of Es Migjorn Gran. Riudavets married in 1917; his wife, also born in 1889, died at age 90.

When asked, Riudavets attributed his longevity to a life of moderation.

Riudavets died at the age of 114 years, 81 days after having a cold for a few days. He was survived by two younger half- brothers: Pere, who died in 2006 at the age of 105, and Josep, who died in 2009 at the age of 102. At the time of his death, Riudavets was believed to be the oldest verified person ever in the history of Spain. However, subsequent research by the International Database on Longevity has revealed that two women had been older than Riudavets at the time of their deaths. He became the oldest recognized living person in Europe following Maria Teresa Fumarola Ligorio's death on 14 May 2003, and oldest recognized living man in the world following Yukichi Chuganji's death on 28 September 2003. After Riudavets' death, Fred Harold Hale became the world's oldest man.

Ana María Vela Rubio

Ana María Vela Rubio (29 October 1901 – 15 December 2017) was born in Puente Genil, Andalusia. She worked as a dressmaker in her youth. She never married her partner as her parents objected to him, but the two had several children. Her daughter, also named Ana, lived with her. Rubio became the oldest verified Spaniard ever on 6 June 2016, when she surpassed the age of María Antonia Castro who had died in 1996, aged 114 years, 220 days. She went on to live to 116 years and 47 days. At the time of her death she was the third-oldest living person in the world, behind Nabi Tajima and Chiyo Miyako. She became the oldest living European upon the death of Emma Morano on 15 April 2017.

Francisco Núñez Olivera

Francisco Núñez Olivera (13 December 1904 – 29 January 2018) was born and lived his whole life in the village of Bienvenida in the Badajoz province of Extremadura. He fought in the Rif War and the Spanish Civil War. He was nicknamed "Marchena" after his resemblance to flamenco singer-songwriter/actor Pepe Marchena. His wife died in 1988, and he survived his two sons. In his later years as a pensioner, he lived with his elder daughter María Antonia. Olivera had his kidney removed when he was 90 and a cataract operation aged 98; he was otherwise in good health. He became the oldest living man after the death of Israel Kristal on August 11, 2017. Olivera lived to 113 years and 47 days. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving Spanish veteran of the Rif War and the oldest veteran of the Spanish Army.

Saturnino de la Fuente García

Saturnino de la Fuente García (11 February 1909 – 18 January 2022) was born in León. At the age of nine he caught the Spanish flu but survived. A passionate football fan, he co-founded his neighborhood's local team in 1927. He married Antonina Barrio Gutiérrez in 1933 and they had eight children, one of whom died as a child. In 1936 he was not drafted in the Civil War because of his height (1.50 m). A skilled craftsman, he would go on to establish a shoemaking business, eventually being commissioned to make boots for the army.

He became the oldest man alive on 12 August 2021, following the death of Emilio Flores Marquez of Puerto Rico. He had 7 daughters, 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. Upon his death in January 2022 at the age of 112 years and 341 days, Venezuelan supercentenarian Juan Vicente Pérez became the world's oldest man.

Notes

References

{{Longevity

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Spanish
Supercentenarians