Inah Canabarro Lucas, known as Sister Inah [Portuguese: Irmã Inah], is a Brazilian supercentenarian who is currently the oldest living person in Latin America whose age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in Sao Francisco de Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on 8 June 1908 (though claims her birthday is 27 May). Her parents were Joao Antonio Lucas and Mariana Canabarro Lucas. As a child, she was so skinny that many people didn’t think she would live past the age of seven. She is the great-granddaughter of General David Canabarro. Her father died in combat in 1923.
Canabarro Lucas studied at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul. Around 1928, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where she became a nun. In 1930, she returned to Brazil to teach Portuguese and mathematics at a school in Tijuca, a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1940s, she moved back to Santana do Livramento where she worked as a teacher.
Canabarro Lucas currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, at the age of 114 years, 197 days (claims 114 years, 209 days). At the age of 110, she began having some mobility difficulties and had to start using a walker. On 25 January 2021, at the age of 112, she received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, making her one of oldest people to receive the vaccine. She credits her longevity to God.
In October 2022, Canabarro Lucas contracted COVID-19 while she was hospitalized, but was later able to recover from the disease in November, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease.
Canabarro Lucas became the oldest validated living person in Brazil following the death of Antonia da Santa Cruz on 23 January 2022. She later became the oldest validated living person in the whole of both South and Latin America following the death of Colombian Sofia Rojas on 30 July 2022. She is currently the fifth-oldest living person in the world whose age is validated by the GRG.
On 2 January 2022, at the age of 113 years, 208 days, Canabarro Lucas surpassed the age of Luzia Mohrs to become the oldest Brazilian ecclesiastical person ever. She is currently the oldest validated living nun in the world.
