World’s oldest man celebrates 122nd birthday in Brazil, a year after beating Covid-19
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — A Brazilian who claims to be the world’s oldest man celebrated his 122nd birthday a year after beating Covid-19 — and his family say he “is still going strong”.
Andrelino Vieira da Silva, who lives in the city of Aparecida de Goiania in the Brazilian state of Goias, was born on February 3, 1901, according to his identity card.
The pensioner, who has 13 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, celebrated his latest landmark birthday earlier this month.
If his ID card is to be believed, it would mean he has now turned 122, making him the oldest person in the world.
However, Silva has not tried to verify his age with the Guinness World Records, the Daily Mail reported.
The official record is currently held by San Francisco-born Maria Branyas Morera, 115, who was handed the title following the death of French nun Sister André, 118, earlier this year.
Silva’s granddaughter Janaina Lemes de Souza told local media this week: “He is still going strong”.
“This year we are not going to do anything because some other people in the family are having some problems, so we are not in the mood for the party.”
Souza said the family owns three houses on the same plot of land.
She lives in one with her husband and daughter. Her mother, father and brother live in another while her grandfather lives alone in the third.
She has described her grandfather as lucid, active, cooks his food and takes care of his little things.
Silva was married and had seven children, five of whom are still alive.
He loves dancing, especially forro, a style of music and dance from north-eastern Brazil.
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Last year, he celebrated his birthday during an intimate gathering with family as they all recovered from Covid-19.
The father of seven also marked his 121st birthday with a cake topped with a sign saying ‘O terror do INSS’ (The terror of the INSS).
The message was a joke about his decades-long claim on his old age pension from the INSS, or National Institute of Social Security.
The body, which was set up in 1978 to replace the former National Institute of Social Insurance (INP), is also responsible for collecting contributions for the country’s social security system.
The title of the oldest person to have ever lived belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment whose life spanned 122 years and 164 days, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
