✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest
Juana Bautista Aritama Alandete de Fuentes was a Colombian supercentenarian whose age has been validated by both the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS). At the time of her death, she was the oldest known living person in Colombia.
Aritama was born in Gaira, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia on 24 June 1907, as the youngest of six children of Domingo Aritama and Teodora Alandete, who were unmarried at the time. In her youth, she loved to dance. She never attended school but learned to read and write from a woman who taught her at home. She dedicated herself to community service, often cooking arepas, and never consumed alcohol.
She spent her entire life in Gaira, where she met her husband, José Rosario Fuentes (born 4 August 1904). They were married for 54 years and had six children together. Her husband passed away at the age of 80. Four of their children—Tranquilina, Olga, Silfredo, and Rosario—were still alive in 2020. For some time, she worked alongside her niece, Dominga Hincapié Aritama, at the restaurant Donde Minga in El Rodadero.
A devout Catholic, Aritama credited her long life to her faith in God and her diet, which included fish, bananas, and yucca. She was still able to walk unassisted at the age of 110. By her 111th birthday in 2018, she had 40 grandchildren, 90 great-grandchildren, and 42 great-great-grandchildren.
Aritama died in Gaira, Magdalena, Colombia, on 21 May 2021, at the age of 113 years, 331 days.
Aritama had been the oldest validated living person in Colombia since the death of Carmen Emilia Jaramillo Chavarria on 15 July 2020.
Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov, Santiago García Medina and Fabrizio Villatoro, and validated by the LAS on 10 March 2021.
* “Ciento once años de anécdotas” – El Informador, 24 June 2018
* “Ella es Juana la mujer ‘más’ longeva de Santa Marta” – El Callejero, 24 June 2018
* “Testigo de las pandemias de los siglos XX y XXI: Juana Aritama de 112 años” – El Heraldo 24 June 2020
* “Ella es doña Juana Bautista, una colombiana con 112 años bien vividos” – Noticias Caracol, 24 June 2020
* “Falleció doña Juana Aritama, a los 113 años” – Hoy Diario del Magdalena, 22 May 2021
(Source: YouTube / Noticias Caracol)
(Source: YouTube / Noticias Caracol)
(Source: YouTube / Noticias Caracol)
(Source: YouTube / Noticias Caracol)
Aged 108 in 2015. (Source: Facebook)
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