BIOGRAPHY

Horacio Celi Mendoza was born in Piura, Peru, on 3 January 1897. When he was in his 20s, he married Zulema García, with whom he had 12 children.

According to his physician, Dr. Araceli Guzmán, he maintained impressive lucidity for his age and remembered the past with clarity and precision. He also lacked most health problems associated with age: he was not hypertensive, his blood pressure was perfect, and he never had diabetes. However, his vision was failing in his later years due to cataracts, and had difficulty walking.

Horacio Celi Mendoza died in Campo Polo, Piura, Peru, on 25 September 2011, at the age of 114 years, 265 days. Nine of his children outlived him: Luz Cristina, Miguel, Olinda, Rómulo, Gabriela, Juan, Horacio, Juana, and Isabel. At the time of his death, his oldest living son, Miguel, was 84 years old.

RECOGNITION

Following the death of 114-year-old Walter Breuning on 14 April 2011, Celi Mendoza became a candidate for the title of World’s Oldest Living Man, although his family were unable to afford to pay the fee to submit his application to the Guinness World Records.

In January 2022, more than 10 years following his death, the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS) included him on their website, his age being under “pending” status, meaning how sufficient evidence supporting his age was located, but not enough to fully validate his age.

ATTRIBUTION

GALLERY