Supercentenarian Profile

Raimundo Teixeira

Born:

1917-10-28

Mulungu, Ceará,

Brazil

Current Residence:

Mulungu, Ceará

Brazil

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Raimundo Teixeira is a Brazilian semi-supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Raimundo Teixeira, affectionately called “Simão”, was born on 28 October 1917, in Sítio Cavaco, Mulungu, Ceará, Brazil. As a teenager, he left his home to work in Sítio Piaba. In his 20s, he married Maria de Lourdes Lopes da Silva, and had 13 children (of which 9 were still living as of December 2021). In his 30s, he went to live in Sítio Nova Holanda, and only left there at age 60 to work in Sítio São Luiz.

He worked his entire life in agriculture, as a sugarcane cutter, a rapadura (unrefined brown sugar) producer, and a goods carrier on the backs of animals, working in all mountainous regions.

In his stories, Raimundo, with his characteristic lucidity, recounted that it was very natural for a countryman to pick fruits, vegetables, and greens. And one day, with one of his sons, they went to pick jackfruit, a very common tropical fruit in the region. On that occasion, his son climbed the jackfruit tree, and almost at its top, suddenly, a branch he was leaning on broke, and he plummeted in free fall; Raimundo didn’t think twice, seeing his son falling, he caught him, cushioning his fall and preventing him from being seriously injured on the ground.

At age 104, his main activity was to cultivate his garden every year in the backyard of his house, growing corn, beans, cassava, potatoes, and pumpkins. He enjoyed dancing Forró at the CRAS-Centro de Referência da Assistência Social de Mulungu and at the Projeto Social Terceira Idade.

At the age of 108, Raimundo currently lives in Mulungu, Ceará, Brazil, under the care of his grandson Paulo Sérgio.