Francisca Susano, Believed to Be the World's Oldest Person, Has Died
Francisca Susano, who was believed to be the oldest living person in the world, died on Monday, according to the local government of her hometown. She was born in Oringao, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.
The oldest person to have lived was Jeanne Calment. She was 122 years and 164 days when she died in 1997. Francisca Susano was 124 years old, surpassing Calment.
In 2016, volunteers from Puerto Princesa submitted the story of Susano to the Guinness Organization in the hope of her being recognized as the world’s longest-living person. At the time when her name was submitted to Guinness, Susana was traveling between Palawan and Negros Occidental to visit her relatives. She had 14 children, the oldest of whom is 99 years old.
Susano was born before the declaration of Philippine Independence in 1898. She survived the smallpox pandemic of the 1900s, the cholera epidemic of 1905, and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, which maintains a list of the 30 oldest people in the world, there are fewer than 300 to 450 supercentenarians in the world or those who are 110 years or older.
Until last year, Susana was reportedly still able to speak fluently, walk, and play the harmonica. Her diet consisted of vegetables and little meat but no pork. She claims her long life is a result of her positive outlook in life, a healthy diet, and abstinence from alcohol.
