Supercentenarian Profile

Rosario Soto

Born:

1914-03-02

Gijón, Asturias

Spain

Died:

2026-07-30

Santander, Cantabria

Spain

Rosario Soto was a Spanish supercentenarian who was the oldest living nun in Spain, as well as one of the oldest living nuns in the world at the time of her passing.

BIOGRAPHY

Rosario Soto was born in Gijón, Asturias, Spain on 2 March 1914 (claimed 3 March). She spent a lot of years educating and training students at the Concerted College Handmaids of the Sacred Heart (Spanish: Esclavas del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) in Santander. Her uncle was a priest in Valladolid, and he lived to the age of 107.

She discovered her religious vocation at the age of 26. She later explained that it had taken her so long because she did not want to leave her youngest sister alone at home while she was still too young to manage on her own. She was the third of four siblings: one sister, like Rosario, also became a nun; one brother entered the Jesuits; and another sister remained single.

She lived between Oviedo and Bilbao and completed her postulancy and novitiate in Loyola and Azpeitia. She was eventually assigned to Oviedo, where she lived between González del Valle and another house on the outskirts of the city, training to become a teacher. During the Spanish Civil War, she was transferred elsewhere, but upon returning to Oviedo, she devoted herself to teaching children. At nearly 60 years of age, she left the classroom and began working as a receptionist.

Rosario Soto passed away in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, on 30 July 2026, at the age of 112 years, 150 days.

RECOGNITION

On 22 June 2024, at the age of 110 years, 111 days, she surpassed the final age of Adela Leguina Torre, becoming the oldest person ever to have lived in the Cantabria region.

On 7 October 2025, following the passing of 111-year-old Maria Helena Saraiva (Sister Aguiar) of Portugal, she became the oldest known living nun in Europe.

At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest known living nun in the world, after America’s Francis Piscatella (Sister Dominici), and the third-oldest (known) living person in Spain, after Teresa Fernandez Casado and Felicidad Hernández Corredera.

Her age was researched by Georg Fürholzer, and has been under review by LongeviQuest since 4 August 2026.