Supercentenarian Profile

Rosario Soto

Born:

1914-03-03

Gijón, Asturias

Spain

Current Residence:

Santander, Cantabria

Spain

Rosario Soto is a Spanish supercentenarian who is currently the oldest living nun in Spain, and one of the oldest living nuns in the world.

BIOGRAPHY

Rosario Soto was born in Gijón, Asturias, Spain on 3 March 1914. 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.

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.

She is currently the second-oldest living nun in the world (after Francis Piscatella of the United States), and the second-oldest living person in Spain (after Teresa Fernandez Casado).