BIOGRAPHY

Argia Cleonice Lucia De Socio was born in Termoli, Campobasso, Molise, Italy on 2 May 1914. In her younger years, she enjoyed swimming in the Adriatic Sea, where she occasionally helped rescue less-experienced swimmers from drowning. In 1935, she moved to Ceccano, Frosinone, and worked as a clerk in public offices. Her husband was Rinaldo D’Ambrogio, a literature teacher and writer who was 28 years her senior. He passed away in 1968, at the age of 82.

At the age of 90, she underwent cataract surgery, survived COVID-19 during the pandemic, and fell and broke her femur as a centenarian, but remained in good health for her age. Her mother lived to be nearly 100, two sisters died aged 100, and one of her brothers, as of 2024, lived in Cattolica at the age of 101.

As of her 110th birthday in 2024, six of her ten children were still alive: Ivana, Domitilla, Nadia, Annamaria, Rosalba, and Olindo. She also had nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She died on 18 September 2024 at the age of 110 years, 139 days.

RECOGNITION

Her aged was verified by the European Supercentenarian Organisation on 24 May 2024, and is recognized by LongeviQuest.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Super nonna Argia compie la veneranda età di 106 anni. “Il mio segreto? La calma”” – Frosinone Today, 2 May 2020
* “Frosinone, nonna Argia festeggia 110 anni. Il fratello ne ha 101: «Nella nostra famiglia il gene della longevità»” – Il Messaggero, 4 May 2024

GALLERY