PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 18/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Oldest man in the world dies in Spain less than a month from his 113th birthday

The world’s oldest man, from the Spanish city of León, sadly passed away this morning

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Oldest man in the world dies in Spain less than a month from his 113th birthday

The oldest man in the world, Saturnino de la Fuente from the northern Spanish city of León, has passed away today, Tuesday January 18 at around 11am.

Saturnino was going to turn 113 years old on February 12, and was considered the oldest man in the world since September 2021.

His son-in-law, Bernardo Marcos, said his death occurred “around eleven o'clock in the morning, shortly after breakfast, when he began to breathe heavily and in a few seconds he went out like a candle”.

Saturnino had received official recognition from the Guinness World Records on 10 September 2021 as the oldest man in the world, at 112 years and 211 days old, shortly after the Puerto Rican Emilio Flores died at the same age.

Saturnino de la Fuente’s DNI said that he was born on 12 February 1909, but he was born on the 8th, as his son-in-law reminded the press; his birth was only registered four days later, a customary practice at the time to avoid the paperwork if the baby died at a time when many newborns did not make it.

An eventful life

Saturnino de la Fuente, known as ‘Pepino’ to his friends, was born during the reign of Alfonso XIII, he survived the Spanish flu of 1918, lived through the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the Second Spanish Republic and the Civil War. A shoemaker by trade, he began working at the age of thirteen in a factory where he worked for more than thirty years.

He did not fight in the civil war because he was not up to the task, but his shoe factory was requisitioned to manufacture boots for the national army. After the company closed down, he set up on his own in his home neighbourhood, Puente Castro, where he lived for many years. In that neighbourhood he founded a football team, CD Puente Castro, which is still active and of which he was an honorary member.

Saturnino managed to live to the ripe old age of 112 by cheating death several times, most notably in 1937 when he was trapped under the rubble left by the crash of a Condor Legion plane in Calle La Rúa in León.

He had eight children, though three of them are already dead, the last one in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. Saturnino himself was the first man to be vaccinated against coronavirus in the province of León.

He is survived by his five remaining children, 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. His mortal remains will be buried tomorrow in the Puente Castro cemetery.

Image: De la Fuente family

Like this article?

Get more like this delivered straight to your inbox every week.

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin to get a comprehensive email with all the week’s news for Spain, Murcia, Alicante and Andalucía.

Special offer: Subscribe now for 50% off (24.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)

OR

you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!

Don’t know what we’re talking about? Take a look at our recent Subscription Bulletins to remind you what our Roundup is all about.

Take advantage of our 50% Discount Special Offer subscription at 24.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins, so approximately 50 cents a week.

Special offer 50% discount 12 months 48 Bulletins
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.

List price 12 months 48 Bulletins
List price 3 months 12 Bulletins