BIOGRAPHY

Josephina Maria da Conceição Souza was born in Sumidouro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 25 September 1910 (claimed 1909). At the age of 15, she married Jorge Edmundo Souza, who was two years her senior. While she spent most of her life in the neighborhood of Cavalcanti in the city of Rio de Janeiro, she resided in Nova Iguaçu for the last 30 years of her life. Throughout her life, she worked in the fields. She never worked outside the home, nor did she attend school, but this did not prevent her from managing household finances. Her husband died at the age of 58. They had 11 children, six of whom were alive as of 2019. Her sister, Clotilde, passed away at the age of 97.

In September 2019, she celebrated her 110th birthday surrounded by family and friends. At that time, she had 21 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren, 25 great-great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-great-grandchildren. According to her granddaughter, Leila Cristina de Souza, she had no diabetes, glaucoma, or tremors. She began using a wheelchair when she turned 100 because she started experiencing falls, and the doctor considered it safer. Her granddaughter claimed that she was two years older, but the family possessed documents supporting her birth in 1909.

Josephina Maria da Conceição Souza passed away in Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 8 January 2023, at the age of 112 years, 105 days.

RECOGNITION

Josephina Maria da Conceição Souza had very few public reports in her lifetime, with annual updates being posted on Facebook in her supercentenarian years.

In January 2020, during the establishment of the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS), she was listed as one of the pending (partially documented) cases. The validation process was later completed at LongeviQuest; her age was verified by Iara Souza and Gabriel Ainsworth, and officially validated on 31 March 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Mês do Idoso: Dona Josephina comemora 110 anos” – Jornal Posto Seis, October 2019

GALLERY