Supercentenarian Profile

Jacinta Silva

Born:

1904-05-15

Rincón de Gadea, Treinta y Tres

Uruguay

Died:

2016-07-29

Montevideo

Uruguay

Maria Silva Fernandez, also known as Jacinta Silva, was an Uruguayan supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Jacinta Silva was born in Rincón de Gadea, Treinta y Tres, Uruguay, on 15 May 1904. When her father, Juan Francisco Silva, joined General Aparicio Saravia’s revolutionary army, his wife was pregnant. The war required the participation of nearly every able-bodied man in the countryside. He departed from the Fifth District of Treinta y Tres, near the Avestruz Grande stream. After the Battle of Masoller, fought on 1 September 1904, Silva returned home to find that his daughter, María Jacinta, had already been born. He registered her as María, although the family always called her Jacinta.

Jacinta dedicated her entire life to serving children and public education. In 1989, her husband, Claudio González, passed away. He had continued shearing sheep until the age of 99 and died at 103. The couple had nine children. Their eldest daughter, Ofelia, was born when Jacinta was 25 years old and was 87 years old as of May 2016. Jacinta was 45 when her youngest daughter, Flora, was born. After being widowed, Jacinta remained alone in Rincón de Gadea for a time, but her children eventually decided to bring her to Montevideo.

At the age of 111, she lived in a small house in the Piedras Blancas neighborhood of Montevideo with two of her nine children: Francisco, aged 72, and Víctor Hugo, aged 80. In April 2015, brothers Sergio and Edgardo Mier, representatives from Treinta y Tres, submitted a petition to the Executive Branch requesting that she be granted a special pension. In May 2016, shortly before her 112th birthday, it was reported that she would begin receiving a special pension. The monthly payment amounted to UYU 13,360.

When asked about the secret to her longevity, Jacinta said she did not have one: “You do what you can; I eat everything, and nothing makes me sick.” She explained that she felt healthy, although she was hard of hearing. She did not wear glasses and was able to answer the telephone and read the text displayed on television screens without difficulty.

Jacinta Silva passed away in Montevideo, on 29 July 2016 at the age of 112 years, 75 days.