Emilio Flores Márquez

BIOGRAPHY

Emilio Flores Márquez was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on 8 August 1908. He was the second of eleven children born to parents Alberto Flores and Margarita Márquez. From a young age, he began assisting his father with agricultural work, planting corn and chili peppers, and collecting eggs from the chickens. The family also cultivated sugarcane, with part of their work involving spreading fertilizer and loading the harvested cane onto wagons. As the eldest brother, he also took on the responsibility of household chores and caring for his younger siblings. He attended school but only completed the first three years, during which he learned to read and write—skills his father considered “sufficient” for him to move forward in life. However, later in life, he expressed regret that his father had not allowed him to continue his education, as he had wanted to study further. Despite his limited schooling, he excelled in math and had a passion for reading, spending much of his time with newspapers and the Bible.

In 1935, he married Andrea Perez Meléndez (1918–2011), with whom he had four children: Hilda Luz, Olga Soraida, Emilio, and Tirsa. The couple were married for over 75 years before her death on 1 March 2011, at the age of 92. Two of his children, Hilda and Olga, were deceased as of 2013. To support his family, he left Puerto Rico to work in New Jersey. There, he worked in a laundry and also spent time picking fruit. Later, he lived in Chicago, Illinois, where he found work in an ice factory. However, due to a family situation, he eventually returned to Puerto Rico and decided to remain on the island. Back home, he resumed working as a farmer, which allowed him to continue providing financial support for his family.

When asked for his secret to his longevity, he responded: “My dad raised me with love, and taught me to love everyone. He always told me and my brothers and sisters to do good, to share everything with others. Besides, Christ lives in me!” His sister Joaquina (1916–2018) lived to be 101, and his brother Miguel (1920–2017) died in New Jersey, two months before turning 97.

Flores Márquez lived with his children Tirsa and Emilio in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico for the last years of his life. At the age of 103, he overcame surgery to implant a pacemaker, and at 108, he survived an intestinal obstruction.

Emilio Flores Marquez died on 12 August 2021 in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, at the age of 113 years, 4 days.

RECOGNITION

On 28 May 2020, following the passing of 112-year-old Bob Weighton (UK), he became the World’s Oldest Living Man, at the age of 111 years, 294 days. However, it is possible that another man, Tomás Pinales Figuereo (31 March 1906 – 24 September 2020) from the Dominican Republic, was older. If his age is validated, he would have held the title, with Flores Márquez succeeding him only after his passing in September 2020. However, neither man was known to researchers or research organizations at the time.

The case of Flores Márquez was first discovered by researchers from the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS). The validation process was conducted by Stefan Maglov, Jeffrey Xu, and Fabrizio Villatoro, and his age was officially validated on 23 August 2020. On 14 May 2021, Guinness World Records officially recognized him as the World’s Oldest Living Man and published a news article on 30 June.

Prior to this, the men believed to be the oldest living after Weighton’s death were Dumitru Comănescu (1908–2020) and Saturnino de la Fuente García (1909–2022), the latter reclaiming the title after Flores Márquez passed away.

Flores Márquez was the last surviving man born in 1908.