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Dina Manfredini

Validated By: On Date: Feb. 10th 2023

Dina Manfredini (née Guerri) was a validated Italian-American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest person from the death of Besse Cooper on 4 December 2012 until her death 13 days later. She was the oldest Italian-born person ever at the time of her death, as well as the tenth-oldest validated person ever.

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Biography

Manfredini was born on 4 April 1897 in the small commune of Pievepelago in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Her parents were Carlo and Maria Guerri. In 1920, shortly after marrying Riccardo Manfredini, she emigrated to Iowa, United States. The couple had four children in total: Mary Russo (1921–2020), Dante (1922–2016), Rudy (1924–1997), and Enes (born 1928). Three of them were still alive at the time of her death.

Manfredini worked in an ammunition factory during World War II and cleaned houses until she was 90. She used to understate her age so that people wouldn’t think that she was too old to work. Her husband died in 1965 at the age of 79.

After her husband’s death, Manfredini lived alone for about 42 years until moving into a nursing home in 2007 at the age of 110. She survived colon cancer at the age of 101. She ‘danced’ at the age of 103 and was still able to shovel snow when she was 106. She was able to walk with the aid of a walker, until near her 115th birthday when she started requiring the use of a wheelchair.

Apart from three living children (aged 91, 90, and 84), she also had seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great-grandchildren at the time of her death.

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Recognition

Manfredini was validated by the Gerontology Research Group. Following the death of Besse Cooper on 4 December 2012, Manfredini, then aged 115 years and 244 days, became the world’s oldest validated living person.

Dina Manfredini died on 17 December 2012 at the age of 115 years, 257 days, just 13 days after becoming the world’s oldest living person. She was also the last surviving person who was born in the second term of Grover Cleveland and resided in the United States. Jiroemon Kimura became the world’s oldest person upon her death. She remained the oldest validated Italian-born person ever until her age was surpassed by Emma Morano on 14 August 2015.

She was also, at the time of her death, the oldest validated emigrant ever, surpassing Christian Mortensen on 13 December 2012. However, she was later surpassed by Tekla Juniewicz on 23 February 2022, leaving her to be the second-oldest validated emigrant ever.