Maria de Jesus

Who was Maria de Jesus?

Maria de Jesus dos Santos was a Portuguese supercentenarian who was the world's oldest verified living person for 37 days, until her death at 115 years 114 days. She assumed this status after the 26 November 2008 death of American Edna Parker, who was 115 years 220 days old. On 25 January 2007, aged 113 years 137 days, she moved into the top 100 verified oldest people ever. The following year, on 11 June 2008, at age 114 years 275 days, she surpassed Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes as the oldest verified Portuguese person ever. She was the last surviving person born in 1893.

At the time of her death, de Jesus was listed as the 20th oldest verified person ever. She was the only verified person born in 1893 to live into 2009, achieving this by a mere 2 days.