BIOGRAPHY

Fernández Fojaco was born in Santianes de Molenes, Asturias, Spain, on 18 June 1895. As a child, she worked as a shepherdess, learning to read in her spare time as she did not want to disappoint her father. When she was 19, following the outbreak of World War I, she emigrated to Cuba in search of a better future.

In Cuba, Fernández Fojaco met and married fellow Spanish immigrant Prudencio Menéndez. The couple ran a grocery store in Cuba until the Spanish Civil War, when they returned to Spain, settling in La Coruña. After the war’s end, they moved to Rozallana, Menéndez’s hometown. In around 1989, Fernández Fojaco moved to Grado, Asturias, to live with her niece.

Fernández Fojaco’s hobbies and interests included reading, the theatre, opera, and classical music. Shortly before her 112th birthday, she suffered a fall which stopped her from undertaking household chores. Her eyesight and hearing were deteriorating, but she was reported to be in perfect health otherwise.

Fernández Fojaco died on 6 January 2009 at the age of 113 years, 202 days.

RECOGNITION

Fernández Fojaco’s age was verified by Miguel Quesada and validated by the GRG on 27 September 2006.

Following the 2 February 2006 death of Lucía Madaria Vesga, 111, Fernández Fojaco became Spain’s oldest resident. After Portugal’s Maria de Jesus, the world’s oldest person, died on 2 January 2009, she then became the oldest living person in the whole of Europe. Four days later, upon her own death, both titles passed to Teresa Dosaigues Abella (1898 – 2010) and Italy’s Lucia Lauria respectively.

ATTRIBUTION

• Manuela, 112 años y café con gotas LNE, 29 June 2007

• Grado pierde a Manuela a los 113 años CiberCuba, 8 January 2009

GALLERY