Francisca Rita de Jesus, a resident of Pouso Alegre in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, celebrated her 110th birthday on 12 December.
Francisca Rita de Jesus was born in the bairro of Palmital, a rural area located on the banks of the Sapucaí River, in the municipality of Silvianópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on 12 December 1914. She rarely attended school because they lived far from both the city and the rural school. As a solution, her father hired a private teacher to instruct her and her siblings in literacy. Consequently, she learned to read and write.
At the age of 21, she married her neighbor, Arlindo Balbino Mendes, a 31-year-old widower and father of five children ranging in age from 1 to 6 years old, whom she raised as her own. At the age of 22, nine months after the wedding, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Jandira. In total, she had 11 children— comprising 6 daughters and 5 sons—with the youngest, a daughter, born in 1958 when she was 44 years old.
On 12 December 2024. (Source: Courtesy of the family)
Until the age of 64, she resided in the countryside with her husband. By that time, almost all of their children had already married, and none of them lived with them any longer. In May 1979, at the age of 74, her husband passed away due to intestinal cancer. Following his death, she purchased a house, and relocated to the city of Pouso Alegre, where some of her children were already living.
The new photos are courtesy of her family, shared through our members Gabriel Ainsworth and Iara Souza.
LongeviQuest extends warm congratulations to Francisca Rita de Jesus on her 110th birthday. We would also like to thank her family for sharing the new photos and keeping us informed of this wonderful news.
