Football fan Sister Inah Canabarro, 117, from Brazil is currently the world’s oldest person and cites her Catholic faith as the secret to her incredibly long life
A football-fanatic nun from Brazil is thought to now be the world’s oldest known living person at 117 after the death of a woman who held the official Guinness World Records title.
Sister Inah Canabarro is believed to be the oldest human alive today following the death of the previous oldest person, Japanese Tomiko Itooka, who died over the weekend aged 116. Born before the First World War, the super centenarian has defied concerns she wouldn’t survive childhood due to being super skinny as a youngster.
She was named the world’s oldest in a statement on Saturday by LongeviQuest, an organisation tracking some of the world’s oldest residents. Her impressive age of 117 has been validated by early life records.
The great-grandaughter of a famed Brazilian general, Sister Inah has previously hailed her Catholic faith as the secret to longevity. Although having lived more recently in a home and relying on a wheelchair, the Teresian nun still sees her 84-year-old nephew every Saturday and sends him regular voice messages.
Sister Inah, from the south Brazil city of Porto Alegre, was recently hospitalised and left weak, with difficulties talking. “The other sisters say she gets a jolt when she hears my voice,” her nephew said. “She gets excited.”
Born in 1908, her birth is down on documents as June 8 of that year, although her family claim her birthday was actually May 27 but wasn’t registered until two weeks later. As a teenager, Sister Inah took up religious work and spent two years in Uruguay before moving to Rio de Janeiro and later settling in her home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Having taught for most her life, Sister Inah has had thousands of students – most notably military dictator General Joao Figueiredo who governed Brazil between 1964 and 1985. The nun – the second oldest ever documented – has also been honoured by Pope Francis after turning 110.
The football fan supports her local team Inter, despite being older than the club itself, and has decked her room out in the club’s colours red and white. Inter celebrates the birthday of its oldest fan each year.
In one video posted on social media to celebrate her 116th birthday, the club wrote: “White or black, rich or poor, whoever you are, Inter is the team of the people.” Sister Inah is currently the 20th oldest person to have ever lived, with the oldest being French woman Jeanne Calment who passed away in 1997 at the age of 122.
Britain’s oldest resident is currently Ethel Caterham, 115, while the oldest Brit ever recorded is Charlotte Hughes, who died in 1993 at 115 years and 228 days.