Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia
‘Like a candle goes out’: World’s oldest man dies aged 112
Saturnino de la Fuente (l), the world’s oldest man in 2022, died in Spain on January 18 at the age of 112. In this photo he celebrates his 110th birthday.
© Ayuntamiento de Leon/Europapress / DPA
Saturnino de la Fuente García held the record for just four months: the oldest man in the world died in Spain at the age of 112. The trained shoemaker had 43 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren – and went through a lot in his life.
The world’s oldest man, Spaniard Saturnino de la Fuente García, has died at the age of 112 years and 341 days, according to Guinness World Records on Wednesday. The Spaniard had held the record for a good four months and would have celebrated his 113th birthday next month.
On Tuesday in the city of León, his life “went out like a candle within a few seconds,” the Europa Press news agency and other media quoted relatives of the man as saying. He died in León, about 300 kilometers northwest of Madrid, in the house of one of his daughters.
De la Fuente survived plane crash on house in Spain
The Spaniard had only been listed as the oldest man on the planet by the Guinness Book of Records since September 10 last year – after the death of Puerto Rican Emilio Flores.
The man, who was only 1.50 meters tall and was born on February 11, 1909 in Ponte Castro in the León region, escaped conscription to the Spanish Civil War in 1936 thanks to his petite stature and instead ran a successful shoe shop. He had seven children, 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
De la Fuente was in relatively good physical and mental condition until the very end. It was said that he had been through a lot in his long life and survived a lot. His worst experience is reported to have been in 1937, when he survived the Spanish Civil War under the rubble of a house that had been completely destroyed when a German Condor Legion fighter plane crashed. At that time, the Condor Legion supported the putschist leader and later dictator Francisco Franco.
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Die-hard football fan and honorary member of Puente Castro FC
The trained cobbler and longtime owner of a shoe factory was a die-hard football fan, former player and honorary member of the Puente Castro FC club. “Pepino”, as De la Fuente was called by relatives and friends, was also the first person to be vaccinated against the corona virus in the province of León at the end of 2020.
According to the Guinness World Records website, the oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Louise Calment of France. She died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.