BIOGRAPHY

Maria Vencelj Maggi was born in Log pod Mangartom, Gorizia, Slovenia (then Austria-Hungary), on 23 December 1905. She was born into a poor working-class family to parents Maria and Franc Vencelj. She had an older sister, Liza, born on 15 November 1904, and two younger brothers, Fridi and Mirko. During her childhood, the family moved to Log pod Mangartom. She lost her mother at the age of 15, and her father had died in the First World War at the age of 40.

Both girls had to start working at a young age. Liza found work on farms in Bovec, while Maria took a job at an inn in Idrija. It was at this point that their paths began to diverge. Although they remained in contact and visited each other, Liza stayed close to home and maintained a strong connection to her roots, whereas Maria increasingly gravitated toward Laško.

In Idrija, Maria became skilled in hospitality. When she came of age, a friend from her hometown—who was working as a maid in Milan, Italy—invited her to join her there. Maria accepted the invitation and began working in a tavern, sending her entire monthly wage of 20 lire back home.

In Milan, she met Alessandro Maggi, a fellow waiter. They eventually married. By the 1930s, the couple had saved enough to open their own coffee bar in the heart of Milan. Around that time, their only child, Elio, was born.

Maria was widowed by the time Elio, in the 1960s, received an excellent job offer in Madonna di Campiglio, a fashionable ski resort that was just beginning to develop. As a central heating installer, Elio was exactly what the area needed. He liked it there and met his future wife. Eventually, he invited his mother to come join him.

She continued living independently in a small apartment until the age of 102, regularly attending mass and doing her own shopping. In 2006, a year after her son’s passing, she moved to a retirement home a few kilometers away in Pinzolo.

Maria Vencelj Maggi passed away in Pinzolo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, on 8 October 2016, at the age of 110 years, 290 days.

RECOGNITION

In December 2015, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming the second Slovenian-born supercentenarian, after Katarina Marinič (1899–2010).

On 29 May 2016, following the passing of 111-year-old Maria Mattivi, she became the oldest living person in Trentino-Alto Adige, at the age of 110 years, 158 days. Upon her own passing, she was succeeded by Olimpia Maraspin Godina (16 January 1908 – 16 October 2016).

Her age was validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) on 30 July 2021.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Sestro ji je odnesel plaz, sama docakala ze 108 let” – Slovenske Novice, 11 January 2014

* “Si è spenta Maria Vencelj: classe 1905, era la donna più longeva del Trentino” – Trento Today, 10 October 2016

GALLERY