Filiberto Puc was a Mexican supercentenarian whose age has been validated by the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS).
Filiberto Puc was born in Dzidzantún, Yucatán, Mexico, on 20 August 1907. He was born to a single mother, Dionicia Puc Naal (1879–1971). He was of Mayan descent. At the age of 8, he allegedly met Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a Mexican journalist, politician and revolutionary. At the age of 14, a man with the surname Ávila taught him how to cut stalks (how to harvest the plant of henequen), which became a job he did for a long time.
In 1929, he married Maximina May Homá (1909–1974), with whom he had eight children (Miguel, Paula, Dionisia, Teodora, Ismael, Guadalupe, Elda and Ángela). During his life, Puc worked as a woodcutter, communal land supervisor, farmer and rancher.
Even as a centenarian, he was able to ride a bicycle. When asked about the secret of his longevity, he replied: “There are no formulas, it is about having a simple life, working, eating well, sleeping well, not drinking liquor, brandy, or those things, and much less smoking”. At the age of 107, he had 40 grandchildren, and more than 100 great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Filiberto Puc passed away in Dzidzantún, Yucatán, Mexico, on 21 January 2018.
At the time of death, he was the oldest known man ever to die in the State of Yucatán, and the oldest known person of Mayan descent, until his age was surpassed by Jorge Durán y Coral in 2019.
His age was verified by Santiago García Medina, Stefan Maglov and Fabrizio Villatoro, and validated by the LAS in January 2020.
* “Sonreír y ser feliz, recomendación de un anciano de 107 años” – Grupo SIPSE, 28 August 2014
* “Muere a los 110 años” – ¡Al chile!, 22 January 2018
